In an open letter, the US National Farmers Union (NFU), together with some 200 other representative organisations, including consumer groups, has urged Congress to support mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL).
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The letter to the Congressional leadership and the Chairmen and Ranking members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, urged that the COOL implementation date be moved forward to September 2007 from September 2008.
“Producers deserve the right to differentiate their products as Made in the USA,” said Tom Buis, president of the NFU. “And consumers deserve the right to know where their food comes from. Country-of-origin labeling is a win-win for both groups.”
A provision requiring retailers to notify consumers of the country of origin of beef, pork, lamb, produce, peanuts and seafood was included in the 2002 Farm Bill. However, the NFU and other groups have become concerned that a series of back-room deals has resulted in riders being added to the legislation which would effectively prevent the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) from actually implementing the law, except for seafood.
“We represent millions of Americans that continue to stand united in support of this valuable programme,” the groups behind the letter said in a statement. “Consumers and producers have grown impatient with the backdoor delays and the rhetoric of packers, processors and retailers that flies in the face of common sense.”
The protesting groups also pointed to consumer surveys that have consistently shown “overwhelming” public support for mandatory country-of-origin labelling, and said that the implementation of COOL on farm-raised and wild-caught seafood has proven successful and popular.
