There have been so many comments about a proposed change in United States meat labeling that the Department of Agriculture has extended the comment period beyond Aug. 17.
The proposal is to allow labeling of meat as “Product of the U.S.A.”.
It is quite close to Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) legislation that Mexico and Canada fought and persuaded the World Trade Organization to condemn as discriminatory.
But there is divided opinion between two groups representing the U.S. beef industry. One organization, R-CALF, is critical of the proposal because it allows imported meat that is processed at a U.S. facility to be labeled “Product of U.S.A.”.
R-CALF wants that label restricted to meat from animals born, raised and slaughtered in the U.S.
The other beef organization, Organization for Competitive Markets, supports the proposal as is.
