Wyden Voices Support for Voluntary Country-of-Origin Labeling Bill
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., agreed to co-sponsor the Voluntary Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) and Trade Enhancement Act, introduced by Sens. John Hoeven, R-N. D., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich, on July 23 (here). “This bill is a winner for Oregon farmers and for Oregon consumers,” Wyden said. “It ensures that consumers can continue to get the information they want about where their meat comes from, while also helping protect made-in-Oregon goods from Canadian and Mexican trade retaliation.”
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The introduction of Voluntary COOL comes after several attempts to avert retaliation (see 1507150023) from Mexico and Canada after the World Trade Organization found the U.S. mandatory COOL law on meat muscle cuts to be discriminatory against foreign products (see 1505180018). "...[T]he VCOOL Act fully addresses the WTO-inconsistency, while preserving key aspects of U.S. country of origin labeling, including the 'Product of the U.S.' label on which many consumers rely for accurate information about where their meat comes from," Wyden said.
Opposition to Voluntary COOL is grounded in claims that consumers should know about the food they are buying, says Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter (here). "Today’s voluntary COOL label is especially subject to challenge because it only applies to domestic livestock, there are no provisions for a voluntary label on imports, which creates the presumption that unlabeled and potentially imported meat is less desirable or less safe," Hauter said. "In practice, a voluntary COOL label is the same as no label at all. Meatpackers won’t use it, consumers won’t see it and farmers and ranchers won’t benefit from it," she said.