House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) praised his fellow lawmakers after the House passed legislation this week to amend the Agriculture Marketing Act of 1946 to effectively repeal the mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements for beef, pork and chicken.
“Country of origin labeling is an unnecessary Washington mandate that hits consumers with higher costs every time they purchase food for their families, and hurts American jobs and our economy” Scalise said. “I applaud (House Agriculture Committee) Chairman (Mike) Conaway for his strong leadership in protecting hardworking taxpayers and American job-creators.”
First authorized more than a dozen years ago as part of the Farm Bill, the COOL regulation requires all information regarding the country where livestock are born, raised and slaughtered to be disclosed. Earlier this year, the World Trade Organization handed down a ruling stating that COOL label rule creates an unfair advantage to U.S. products, as American consumers often shy away from meat produced outside of the United States.
With the House vote already complete, the Senate must take similar action before the mandate can be officially repealed.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) has urged his fellow Senators to take quick action to prevent the imposition of international tariffs, the cost of which would be passed down to consumers.
“We can sit here and let this happen. Or we can move,” Roberts said. “Let’s get a move on.”