| | Whereas, the Federal mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)
requirements apply only to limited beef, pork, lamb, fruit, nuts, etc. with only
fresh beef, pork and lamb sold in certain retail outlets being included; and
Whereas, COOL does not apply to poultry, any processed meats or any meats
sold in food service / restaurants, thus causing tremendous confusion at the
marketplace and giving a distinct competitive advantage to poultry; and
Whereas, since the majority of the meat throughout chain has been
excluded, it is very clear that this labeling law is not about food safety, bio-
security or the consumers right to know; and
Whereas, consumers already have the option to purchase domestic products
that have been voluntarily labeled, but to this point, only a limited few have
been willing to pay the price to do so; and
Whereas, COOL clearly applies to both domestic and imported production
and will place an undue burden on United States livestock producers in terms of
record keeping and documentation and the fact that there are penalties of
$10,000 per violation per day is already prompting each segment of the chain
downstream from the producer to put in place extensive policies and procedures
to document the origin of all livestock; and
Whereas, livestock producers are slowly but surely discovering the
enormous costs and overall grave implications of this well-meaning, but
ill-founded law of unintended consequences and the fact that this un-funded
government mandate is an unworkable substitute for the economics of the
marketplace; and
Whereas, it is becoming exceedingly clear that U.S. livestock producers
will pay dearly but receive little or no benefits and that our international
trading partners will immediately challenge this, as it is a flagrant violation
of international trade law; and
Whereas, livestock producers don't need any more unrealistic and
unnecessary regulations like COOL that will increase on-farm costs, drive
consolidation and vertical integration, provide an unfair advantage for certain
segments of the meat chain, and hinder international trade; and
Whereas, COOL creates a situation where vertically integrated systems in
both cattle and swine can provide all the product needed for certain markets or
retail systems, thus essentially shutting family livestock producers out of
these markets and force them to sell into the food service segment at a
discounted price;
Now, therefore, be it resolved that, the United States Congress
immediately repeal the mandatory Country of Origin Labeling law and that the
United States Department of Agriculture be encouraged to develop a format to
allow such labeling to be done strictly on a voluntary basis.
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