News
Stabenow proposes alternative to COOL repeal
The ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee is offering an alternative to outright repeal of country-of-origin labeling (COOL).
Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow has released a draft bill that would convert mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef and pork to a voluntary program. Stabenow calls it “a pathway to finding a solution on country-of-origin labeling”.
National Farmers Union president Roger Johnson applauded Stabenow for her efforts. Johnson says the bill, if enacted, should resolve the current dispute against COOL at the World Trade Organization (WTO) by both Canada and Mexico.
“A voluntary approach for beef and pork is a prescriptive solution to a very narrow problem identified by the World Trade Organization,” Johnson said. “Furthermore, this approach is in concert with Canada’s own voluntary meat labeling process.”
However, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee disagrees. Representative Michael Conaway of Texas says Stabenow’s bill contradicts a House-passed bill which repeals mandatory COOL for beef, pork, and chicken. Conaway says the Senate bill leaves in place several burdensome mandatory labeling requirements and creates unnecessary compliance costs.
Conaway says any conversation about a voluntary program must be preceded by a full repeal of COOL.
The Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on COOL on Thursday morning.
We deserve to know where our food is comming from. See
China arrests smugglers trying to sell frozen meat from the 1970s
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-arrests-smugglers-trying-to-sell-frozen-meat-from-the-1970s/ar-AAc1AhW
Well, this is just a warning. China bans the sale of meat from the U.S. in China but there is a trade agreement with China to process chicken from the U.S. and then send it back to the U.S. It would not be unreasonable to think that the meat we got back was not going to be the meat that was sent there. And by the way you will not know where your meat is coming from because the USDA is talking about dropping COOL (country of origin labeling).