He made the announcement in a speech to the annual conference of the National Farmers Union.
A key part of the new regulation says ‘‘Product of USA’’ and ‘‘Made in the USA’’ may be displayed on labels of (U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service)-regulated products only if the product is derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the United States.
FSIS is also proposing that claims other than the two authorized claims ‘‘Product of USA’’ and ‘‘Made in the USA’’ may be displayed on labels to indicate the U.S.- origin component of a product’s preparation and processing.
All U.S.-origin label claims that are not authorized claims are known as ‘‘qualified claims.’’
Qualified claims would need to include a description on the package of how the product compares to the regulatory criteria for the two authorized claims, ‘‘Product of USA’’ and ‘‘Made in the USA,’’ including all preparation and processing steps that occurred in the United States upon which the claim is made.
For example, ‘‘Sliced and packaged in the United States using imported pork’’ could be a U.S.-origin qualified claim.
FSIS is proposing that companies using a voluntary claim of U.S. origin on labels of FSIS-regulated products must, as with the use of all origin claims, maintain documentation to demonstrate that the product complies with criteria of the proposed regulatory requirements,” that part of the lengthy document says.
Canada and Mexico have defeated two previous attempts to introduce country-of-origin labeling for meats.
When those previous regulations were in place, meat packers who wanted to use meat from animals born, raised or slaughtered outside of the U.S. had to be kept separate in the food chain which resulted in discounted prices for imports.
Canada and Mexico successfully argued that this created a trade barrier that violated the trade agreement among the three countries.
