The country of origin labeling act finally goes into effect Oct. 1, six years after it was included in a U.S. farm bill.

After much delay, Americans interested in supporting the U.S. agriculture industry will now know for sure the steak they’re buying is from livestock safely born, raised, slaughtered and processed right in the good old U.S.A.

Or maybe not.

Agricultural organizations, including the Kansas Farmers Union and the National Farmers Union, both of which enthusiastically supported the COOL initiative, said the way the law is being interpreted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the truth in labeling law may lead to confusing consumers.

"USDA has created a loophole big enough to drive a truck through, violating the spirit, letter and intent of the law and deceiving consumers who have consistently shown support for buying U.S. products," National Farmers Union President Tom Buis said in a press release Thursday.

Donn Teske, president of the Kansas Farmers Union, told Kansas Liberty the blame lies mostly with the packing industry. He said two of the largest meat packers in the world, Swift and Tyson, have made clear they will steer away from the exclusively American label.

Teske said the way the law was written, there are several different categories of labels. One tier is for exclusively American products. Another is more generic – for North American products.

“If most of the meat available in grocery stores is labeled North American, the system doesn’t really have any value,” Teske said. He added that American consumers supported the COOL legislation because they wanted to know the meat and produce they were buying was American.

“If consumers know it is a U.S. product, they’re willing to pay more for it,” he said.

Liz Friedlander, spokesperson for the National Farmers Union, told Kansas Liberty that packers are resisting the all-America label because they acquire so much livestock from other countries.

“If they’ve gotten half their livestock from Canada and half from American, they don’t really want to go through the process of separating them – using the North America label allows them to sidestep the need to segregate livestock from different countries,” she said.

Tekse said he didn’t believe it would be a huge burden to segregate animals from different countries. He pointed out that all living livestock imported into the U.S. must be branded with its country of origin.

He said some packers also import meat that’s already been processed elsewhere, a fact they'd rather not publicize.

“Processed meat coming into this country – that’s just really scary,” Teske said.

Gary Mickelson, media contact for Tyson Foods, was out of the office and unavailable today. He did not respond to an email from Kansas Liberty asking for comment.

The Department of Agriculture interpretation is included in its “interim final rules” that will initially administer how COOL is operated.

Friedlander said the Farmers Union and other American farm groups have appealed to the USDA to re-think the interim rules before they go into effect permanently in six months.

A bi-partisan group of 32 Senators, led by South Dakota Democrat Tim Johnson,  Wyoming Republican Mike Enzi and Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer yesterday asking him to re-think the agency’s interpretation. Neither Kansas senator signed the letter.

In a statement released Friday, the U.S. Cattle Network, which also has opposed the interpretation, expressed gratitude to the Senate group.

“USCA members remain concerned that specific provisions in the interim final rule could result in U.S. born, raised and processed beef being labeled as a product of multiple countries," the statement said. "The multiple countries label was strictly intended for use on product that is actually from multiple countries."

The association praised Johnson and Enzi's efforts. “USCA is pleased to see that Senator Johnson - the original author of the 2002 COOL law - and Senator Enzi are leading the way in a bipartisan fashion with their Senate colleagues to ensure COOL is carried through to the finish line," the association's statement said. "We are grateful for the Senators' action on the issue and we remain hopeful that USDA will clarify the interim final rule language to prohibit this practice."

Harkin, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry that handled the COOL legislation, said he was encouraged at comments made by Secretary Schafer in the wake of the letter.

“I am encouraged by statements made by Agriculture Secretary Schafer that this implementation needed additional work," Harkin said, "but with such a short amount of time left before this rule goes into effect, I am hopeful USDA will act quickly to implement these changes.”

COOL also applies to produce, and some Kansas grocery stores already are affixing labels on their vegetables.

A produce manager for a Kansas Hy-Vee who asked not to be named said it took him only about 15 minutes to apply labels to his vegetable aisle this week.

He said as a consumer, he would prefer to know the produce he’s buying is American, especially after this summer’s salmonella scare related to imported tomatoes and jalapeno peppers and similar episodes in the past.

- Phil LaCerte

The Week in Review