MO farmers, advocates push for mandatory country-of-origin food labels

By: Chrystal Blair

A Midwest coalition of consumer, farmer and rural groups, including those in Missouri, is pushing to reinstate mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat, poultry, seafood, fruits and vegetables, as well as some nuts.

Earlier this month, federal lawmakers reintroduced the American Beef Labeling Act to restore such labeling for beef.

Noah Earle, a farmer and member of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, contended claims from the “big four” meat packers, arguing such labeling hurts their export and is costly and time-consuming are not valid.

“They already do provide a lot of information and they know this information,” Earle pointed out. “They already have systems to track marketing attributes such as organic, or certified Angus. So, it’s not really much of an additional step to just put ‘Product of the USA.'”

Those opposed to the regulation worry it could lead to trade disputes with Canada and Mexico, which happened when a similar rule was repealed in 2015.

The U.S. introduced mandatory country-of-origin labeling in 2002, updated it in 2008, and removed beef and pork in 2015 after Canada and Mexico won a World Trade Organization case. The standard requires accurate labeling in addition to origin records. Earle warned without it, meat packers can mislead consumers.

“Also been the case that those packers could ship in primals or live animals that had been raised up until the date of slaughter in a foreign country, and then cut them up into smaller pieces, make them into value-added products and then stamp them ‘Product of the USA,'” Earle reported.

Earle hopes The American Beef Act’s mandatory country-of-origin labeling restoration will be included in Trump-era trade talks. He stressed it is not about politics, it is about just getting it done.