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- Time to Implement Country-of-Origin
- Backed by consumer surveys showing strong support for country-of-origin labeling, the California Farm Bureau Federation urges the USDA to implement labeling provisions that were approved in the 2002 Farm Bill. Federation President Bill Pauli, in comments to USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, said “its past the time for studying; now is the time to implement the program.”
“We believe USDA has the opportunity to develop a fair and equitable process to implement the new law. We strongly support country-of-origin labeling provisions passed by the 2002 Farm Bill because it will provide farmers the opportunity to identify their products and consumers the ability to make informed shopping decisions,” said Pauli.
Pauli said that consumer surveys shows upwards of 70% of produce shoppers support country-of-origin labeling.
“Clearly consumers have spoken on what they want. Our farmers, who operate in a very competitive global marketplace, would be better able to compete if they could tout their products as home-grown,” said Pauli.
Farm Bureau expressed concern that the USDA’s initial meat labeling requirement goes too far to require the ability to trace back the source of meat to individual U.S. ranches. Pauli said the regulations should focus on animals and meat entering the United States.
“USDA has proposed regulations that will make this process far more costly and time-consuming to implement than necessary. Live cattle entering the U.S. for feeding and processing are said to account for only five percent of the total beef processed,” Pauli said.
“It’s time to look for workable solutions. The concept of country-of-origin labeling carries a strong meaning for our members. It’s important to them that this matter be given careful consideration.”
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