The House
of Representatives has voted to repeal country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for
beef, pork, and chicken, according to a Food Safety News article available here.
Meating Place also published an article available here
and Feedstuffs here.
Texas
Republican Rep. Michael Conaway’s Country of
Origin Labeling Amendments Act of 2015 passed Wednesday by a
300-131 vote.
Conaway
introduced the bill on May 18, which was the same day the World Trade
Organization rejected a
U.S. appeal of its decision that COOL unfairly discriminates against
meat imports and gives the advantage to domestic meat products.
The 2002
and 2008 farm bills mandated Country of origin labeling (COOL), and meat
processors have been lobbying for the law to be changed ever since. Consumer
protection activists and livestock producers have lobbied just as hard to keep
the law in place, according to Meating Place.
In
response to the House vote, the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) issued a
statement calling it "an essential first step."
“Chairman
Conaway and Representative Costa have shown incredible leadership in
encouraging the U.S. live up to its obligations and abide by World Trade
Organization rules,” NAMI President and CEO Barry Carpenter said in the
statement. “It's an issue of marketing, and that should be decided in the
marketplace. We hope the Senate will move quickly to vote for repeal so the
President can sign the bill and put this failed experiment behind us.”
COOL supporters
urged the Senate to quickly vote. Peterson said in his closing comments on the
House floor that “we feel repeal is not where we’re going to end up or where we
should end up.” He said as it heads over to the Senate he hopes there’s a way
to work through the ruling without needing retaliation, according to Feedstuffs.
Roberts
added, “We can sit here and let this happen. Or we can move. Let’s get a move
on.”
For more
information on Country of Origin Labeling, please visit the National
Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
