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  • 2015-12-31 (xsd:date)
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  • Did the U.S. Remove 'Country of Origin' Labeling from Meat? (en)
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  • On 28 December 2015 David Avocado Wolfe (a social media personality and alternative medicine product promoter) published a Facebook post, the text of which read: Both these memes pertained to Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), effective in the United States following the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, and contained a mixture of true, false, and misleading information. H.R. 2393 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, and a summary of the proposed legislation explained that the bill would repeal some (but not all) country of origin labeling requirements for meat: The meme maintained that after passing the House the bill moved on to the Senate, where it was slipped into a spending bill. That assertion was misleading, as agricultural regulations are commonly attached to budget bills. (A Google search reveals myriad examples of this legislative process over the years.) The repealed provisions hadn't been in place all that long. While some had roots in the above-linked 2002 Farm Bill, many only dated to 2009: Neither meme explained why COOL provisions were repealed to begin with. A Food Safety News article from 21 December 2015 titled USDA Ends COOL Enforcement With President’s Signature on Omnibus Bill reported that the bill was intended to address broader trade concerns: On 18 December 2015, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a press release titled Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on the Country of Origin Labeling Requirements for Beef and Pork, which confirmed the effects of the bill: As Vilsack's statement explained, the previous country of origin labeling regulations were of debatable value to consumers. Regardless of a meat's country of origin, all meat sold inside the United States is subject to the same USDA regulations and standards as before. In short, it is true that mandatory COOL labeling was officially repealed in the U.S. in late December 2015, but those revised labeling requirements applied only to some meats and had no effect on the required certifications for meat sold in the U.S. (whatever its source). Attachment of the bill to omnibus spending legislation wasn't sneaky, as USDA provisions are generally passed as part of budget bills for upcoming fiscal years. Finally, nothing about the COOL repeal prevents manufacturers from labeling meat: those vendors who wish to do so are free to label their meats without penalty. (en)
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