COOL Isn’t Just Talk Anymore
The newest farm bill includes provisions requiring the mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) system on retail meat products sold in the U.S. A similar provision was part of the 2002 Farm Bill but was never implemented, USAgNet reports. This time, however, Congress apparently means business. Paperwork and bookkeeping requirements for COOL were modified in the final bill.
As I understand it, and we wont know for sure until we see the final language, the COOL provision has been modified to make it a little less onerous, commented Laurie Bryant, executive director of the Meat Importers Council of America. Its going to be costly no matter what, mostly to the domestic industry. It wont cost importers much because the product we bring in is already labeled, and it isnt typically sold at retail directly. It is repackaged by a processor.
As an example of a possible problem with COOL, Bryant said the labels for ground meat, which often contains meat from several sources, from several different countries, could be tricky to navigate.
COOL is scheduled to take effect September 30, 2008.