Senator Santorum Introduces Voluntary Country of Origin Labeling Law

Press Release - U.S. Senator Rick Santorum ^ | June 23, 2005

[anonsquared]

Senator Rick Santorum introduced the Food Promotion Act of 2005, legislation that will create a voluntary country of origin labeling system for food products. The bill would replace the mandatory labeling program with a more efficient, less expensive voluntary system for beef, veal, lamb, pork, fish, and produce. Instead of a national country of origin system, products would be labeled along the supply chain wherever it is most efficient to do so.

[anonsquared]

"Instead of a national country of origin system, products would be labeled along the supply chain wherever it is most efficient to do so."

Does this mean that questionable food from Mexico or mad cows from Canada could come to a distributor in the US and then be labeled "USA"? Doesn't American business realize that a lot of us out here would rather choose American?

I know business is complaining that it's costing them, but don't they realize it's benefiting them in other ways? If there are more outbreaks of illness from Mexican strawberries and green onions, don't our producers wish to differentiate themselves? Maybe it's time we all buy American made greenhouses and grow our own!

[handy old one]

U.S.A.

[konaice]

business is complaining that it's costing them,

So they say, but realistically, they would have to keep track of this stuff anyway for food safety reasons. Its a smoke screen to make it easier to export more jobs by not having country of origin on the package.

[n230099]

This stinks. These countries have been pushing this and now they've got a fish hooked to help them. Making CoO info voluntary means making it gone. WHo in their right mind is going to buy food from some of these backwater scumholes.

[JRochelle]

This is a simple case of a big business, political donation paying off.

[anonsquared]

At first I wasn't sure I was reading it right, but I don't see how "labeled along the supply chain wherever it is most efficient to do so" doesn't mean being able to label something "U.S.A." even if it wasn't produced here. Making it voluntary is one thing, then growers could label their products by choice. But this sounds like an attempt to water down and make useless a "U.S.A." label.

[Dat Mon]

ARTICLE..."Instead of a national country of origin system, products would be labeled along the supply chain wherever it is most efficient to do so."

This is dishonest marketing in my view. It is worse than having no labeling. If I buy something that says MADE or PRODUCED in USA I expect it to mean just that.

And no...this is not an unnecessary regulation....it is truth in advertising...a basic tenet of an orderly capitalistic system.

Rick...Im disappointed in ya. Tell me this isnt advance prep work for CAFTA....whereby stuff from El Salvador is going to be shipped up here and labled USA produced.