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House Agriculture Committee approves repeal of COOL

The House Ag Committee approved a measure Wednesday that would effectively repeal country of origin labeling requirements for beef, pork and chicken.  If passed, the bill leaves intact labeling requirements for all other covered commodities.

Committee Chairman, Republican Michael Conaway of Texas, says the move is to bring the U.S. into WTO compliance and to avoid retaliation by Canada and Mexico, who say they’re harmed by COOL.  Committee ranking member, Democrat Collin Peterson of Minnesota, says the bill is premature and there are several steps before retaliation would take place.  To open the committee hearing on COOL Wednesday, Peterson said that mandatory labeling is in place in more than 60 other countries.

“And that’s part of my issue with all of this is that I think we should take some time and figure out what’s going on in these countries,” Peterson told the committee.  “Is there some other way to deal with this so we can actually come to a resolution that will avoid what all of us want to avoid and that is the retaliation?”

Prior to Wednesday’s vote, Iowa 4th District Congressman Steve King, a Republican member of the House Agriculture Committee, told Brownfield Ag News he favors the repeal of Country of Origin Labeling.

“I think the simple solution to a complex problem is to pass a repeal of COOL,” he said.

Following the WTO’s latest rebuff of COOL, King, in an interview with Brownfield Ag News, said it’s time to abandon the government-mandated approach.

“This is a North American market. And if it says ‘USDA-graded’ on our meat, that should be good enough—it is good enough—for American consumers,” said King.  “If consumers demand more, they can demand more—and if they do, I’m confident that our retailers will make sure that there’s a label on the product that reflects the origins and the feeding and the processing of these meat products.”

King is among the 68 bi-partisan co-sponsors of the House bill to repeal COOL for beef, pork and chicken.

Canada and Mexico prevailed in a WTO decision Monday against the U.S.  The committee vote was 38 to 6 to approve the measure.

AUDIO: House Agriculture Committee hearing on COOL (25 min. MP3)

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