The Star Tribune newspaper in Minnesota reports that “the language
is tucked into a paragraph on page 13 of Division A of the 1,600-page
Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, better known as
the federal budget.
“It requires the secretary of agriculture to change a United
States meat labeling rule to comply with a World Trade Organization (WTO)
decision that brands the rule unfair.
“The paragraph would eliminate the need for meat producers,
packers and distributors to show where the animals used in their products are
born, raised and slaughtered.
“The paragraph’s inclusion in the budget is a testament to
the lobbying power of the biggest players in the American meat industry,
including Minnesota-based Cargill Inc. and Hormel Foods Corp. Both companies have
battled in the courts and Congress against country-of-origin labeling, which both
call onerous and ineffective,” says the newspaper.
“Hormel spokesman Rick Williamson said the company ‘supports
the views held by industry organizations such as the American Meat Institute,
National Pork Producers Council and the North American Meat Association that
the rule will cause consumer confusion, raise food prices, be costly to
implement and serve no public health or food safety benefit.’.”
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tm Vilsick has already responded,
saying he can’t change the regulations to comply with the WTO rulings; what’s
needed, says Vilsick, is new legislation and that’s up to the politicians who
passed the budget.
And why does the Star Tribune report so negatively about the lobbying of the meat packers and not mention the clout of farmers?
It's the farmers who persuaded the politicians to pass a law that defies free trade and breaks the U.S. commitment to adhere to WTO standards.
