Following the passage of the Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act of 2015 by the U.S. House of Representatives in June, the measure now awaits a vote by the Senate to repeal the requirement for meat products to be labeled with their country of origin.
Meat products are required to include information on where the animal was bred, raised, and slaughtered, but the House acted after the Canadian government filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) to remove the labeling as a violation of trade agreements. The WTO approved the Canadian complaint on the grounds that the United States labeling policy discriminates against meat products from border countries. Could fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables be next?
The bill passed the House with a vote of 300-131; 10 Republicans voted nay while 66 Democrats voted yea. The bill is now before the Senate. You may want to keep a watch on this.
Background: Country Of Origin Labeling (COOL) (or mCOOL [m for mandatory]) is a requirement signed into American law under Title X of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (known as the 2002 Farm Bill, codified at 7 U.S.C. § 1638a). This law requires retailers to provide country-of-origin labeling for fresh beef, pork, and lamb. The program exempts processed meats. The United States Congress passed an expansion of the COOL requirements on 29 September 2008, to include more food items such as fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables.[1][2] Regulations were implemented on 1 August 2008 (73 FR 45106), 31 August 2008 (73 FR 50701), and 24 May 2013 (78 FR 31367). On 10 June 2015, the house passed the Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act of 2015, which repeals requirements for chicken, pork and beef retailers to inform consumers of the country of origin, at the final point of sale.
