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COOL gets hotUnless the law is changed, or eliminated, country-of-origin labeling (COOL) will be enforced on beef and pork sometime this fall. The law has been on the books since the implementation of the 2002 farm bill. Forces that fear its implications have managed to delay it and are now making a last push to kill the program and have Congress start over. No one is going to get out of this unscathed, from producer to packer, as we are witnessing another "good idea" in concept that ends up in a "regulatory quagmire" that may not really benefit anyone. I like the idea of knowing where my food originated. It seems logical for me to receive this information in a straightforward manner, such as the label on my shirt that says it was made in Bangladesh. I may wish to know the nationality of the ground bovine I'm about to consume for a number of reasons: health, economic impact, human rights and just plain old curiosity. I will couple that with price and make a decision whether to buy it. When I leave the supermarket, I hope to be satisfied with my purchase and will continue on my way with one less reason for consumer outrage. This is not the way it's viewed by the packing industry, or countries that depend on the United States for their livelihood. The packers want to source livestock from as many places as possible. They want to co-mingle the end product and ship it to as many buyers as possible. COOL is a road block, even restraint of trade, from their perspective. The retailer, who buys from the packer, is not enthralled either. The meat counter manager will have to be assured the labeling is correct and face steep fines if it is not. If COOL has any teeth, they are not going to bear the pain alone; the bite is going to be felt all the way back to the feedlot and the cow-calf producer. For the production sector, the goal of COOL has been to identify American raised beef and pork. The belief is that consumers will select American product and this will place imports at a disadvantage. Although the concept is clear and the message can bring the crowd to their feet at an R-CALF meeting, it is still unknown what consumer reaction will be at the grocery store. The sponsors of the legislation feel it's worth the effort to give Americans a choice, but no one really knows what that choice will be. Seafood was required to be labeled over a year ago. So far the industry has not had the costs of implementation that were predicted, nor have consumers changed their buying habits. Knowledge is power but does not translate directly into profit. Regulation, however, does translate directly into cost, but it may also block competition. Packers and importers appear to be the source of advertising in the Midwest that is questioning the sanity of COOL. The ads, running without attribution, call for livestock producers to contact Congress to change the law before it damages their industry. Other news indicates that packers are giving notice that animals born now will have to be documented as to their origin or they won't be accepted when COOL goes into effect. All this leads to animal identification, which has been embraced by the pork industry but rejected by most beef producers. If the packers and retailers become liable for the animals they process, they will logically require proof of where they were raised. The easiest way to stay in compliance with COOL is to require identification of the premises from which the animals came. That one piece of information will be a huge step toward full implementation of animal identification. The marketplace, not the government, may drive this program to full implementation. A number of things can happen in the next 18 months that will make or break country-of-origin labeling. If Congress holds the line on implementation, as it appears they will, then the packers will put their plan into place. (You can be assured this tight-knit industry has one.) The feedlot can't sell to the packer, if the cattle don't pass specifications; so they will place requirements on the cattle they accept. The stocker operator and the cow-calf producer will have to conform or not be allowed to sell. All this so the consumer can determine the origin of a package of meat and decide whether they really care if it was raised in the US of A. Editor's note: Ken Root is now celebrating his 34th year as an agricultural professional. His career began as a vocational agriculture teacher then turned to agricultural broadcasting and writing as well as environmental consulting and association management. He was the original host of AgriTalk (1994-2001) and now is lead farm broadcaster for WHO Radio in Des Moines, Iowa. 7/2/07
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