Last week I joined several colleagues to introduce bipartisan legislation that would allow voluntary labeling of beef, pork and chicken that is born, raised and slaughtered in the United States. The legislation is designed to prevent retaliatory trade sanctions by Canada and Mexico.
Legislation is needed to address several World Trade Organization rulings that the United States’ mandatory Country of Origin Labeling law violated international trade agreements. Canada and Mexico have indicated they will implement retaliatory tariffs against U.S. products unless a change in law occurs.
The bill we introduced last week repeals the current mandatory labeling law and replaces it with a voluntary program that will enable processors to voluntarily label meat products. The bill maintains the integrity of the label, ensuring that products labeled with a U.S. origin are actually “born, raised and slaughtered in the United States,” rather than just processed in the United States.
A voluntary labeling program is a simple solution that will allow the United States to abide by its World Trade Organization obligations while giving producers the option to label their products. The bill makes sure that there is a single, clear definition of what constitutes meat labeled as a product of the United States. Consumers will also be able to have confidence in the label on their meat. They will have the assurance that if a meat label says “Product of the U.S.,” it truly is an American product.
This is an approach that Canada has also taken and has even suggested to the United States that a voluntary option could be a solution.
In the end, Americans should be able to know where their meat comes from, with a label that has integrity based on a single definition of U.S. pork and beef, just like they know where their t-shirts come from.