| WASHINGTON - Majority Whip Roy Blunt today applauded the House's protection of meat producers and processors' ability to voluntarily market their products as "Made in the U.S.A." The House defeated an amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations bill for FY06 that would have mandated country of origin labeling (COOL) for all meat products by September 30, 2006.
"Mandatory country of origin labeling is a marketing issue, not a food safety issue, and puts an unnecessary burden on producers, processors and consumers," said Congressman Blunt.
"Today's action in the House provides an opportunity for cattle producers to help create a workable country of origin labeling program that adds value for producers and consumers," said Bryan Dierlam of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
The Agriculture Department has estimated the costs of the current mandatory country of origin labeling program could be as much as $4 billion in the first year alone, with several hundred million dollars a year in recurring costs. According to the Cattlemen's Association, mandatory food labeling presents no new marketing options that are not already available.
Said Congressman Blunt, "A much better approach is for Congress to approve a voluntary program, and place control in the hands of consumers at the marketplace. For this reason, I joined the fight with Congressman Goodlatte and introduced legislation to make COOL a voluntary program for meat and meat products."
Blunt continued: "Voluntary labeling would give producers added market value rather than a costly federal mandate. Voluntary COOL would ultimately give consumers, not the federal government, control of country of origin labeling for products."
Earlier this year, Blunt joined Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Congressman Marion Berry (D-Ark) to introduce legislation enacting a long-awaited voluntary country of origin labeling program for meat products sold in America supermarkets.
The Goodlatte-Blunt Meat Protection Act (HR 2068) amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a voluntary country of origin labeling program for meat (including beef, pork, and lamb).
Blunt and other supporters of the voluntary COOL approach point to numerous existing voluntary programs that have proven their value to producers and consumers. Among the groups supporting the voluntary labeling program are the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Pork Producers Council, and the American Farm Bureau Federation.
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