Posted on 11/17/2004 12:37:51 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Telling consumers where their meat, fruit and vegetables came from seemed such a good idea to U.S. ranchers and farmers in competition with imports that Congress two years ago ordered the food industry to do it. But meatpackers and food processors fought the law from the start, and newly emboldened Republicans now plan to repeal it before Thanksgiving.
As part of the 2002 farm bill, country-of-origin labeling was supposed to have gone into effect this fall. Congress last year postponed it until 2006. Now, House Republicans are trying to wipe it off the books as part of a spending bill they plan to finish this month.
House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said he expected the Senate to agree to repealing the measure, whose main champion two years ago was Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
"I can't find any real opposition to doing exactly what we want to do here," Blunt said.
President Bush never supported mandatory labeling. Chances for repealing the law improved when Daschle, still his party's leader in the Senate, was defeating for re-election Nov. 2. Daschle indicated through a spokesman this week that he probably will not fight the repeal.
Those who want the repeal say the labeling system is so expensive that it far outweighs any benefit to consumers. The Agriculture Department has estimated the cost could range from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in the first year alone.
"Everybody realized it was going to cost a lot of money, and ranchers were going to have to bear most of that," said Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., chairman of a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry subcommittee on the issue.
Food processors and other opponents of mandatory labeling say they are amenable to voluntary labels.
Grocery Manufacturers Association spokeswoman Stephanie Childs cited the government's voluntary standards for labeling organic food and said, "That's the sort of thing we should be looking toward."
Supporters of the labeling requirement says opponents want the repeal so producers will not have to spend money getting ready to follow the law. The House Agriculture Committee approved legislation this year to substitute a voluntary system for the current law.
The issue divides cattlemen and other livestock producers. Many of the bigger livestock and feedlot operations, as well as food processors, do not want mandatory labeling.
There are 4.5 million cattle and 2.9 million hogs in Missouri; Kansas has 6.65 million cattle and about 1.5 million hogs.
Producers in favor of mandatory labels believe consumers will prefer U.S.-grown food over foreign imports. The law requires companies to put country-of-origin labels on meat, vegetables and fruit.
"We really feel that country-of-origin labeling is one of the key things we need to keep ourselves competitive in that market. I understand the trade-offs," said Doran Junek, a rancher in Brewster, Kan. Junek also is executive director of the Kansas Cattlemen's Association, an affiliate of R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America.
Consumer groups say the issue is whether buyers have a right to know where their food came from.
"When nutrition labeling was suggested by advocates 25 years ago, the industry kept saying, `Oh, we can't do that,'" said Carol Tucker Foreman, director of food policy for the Consumer Federation of America. "Look, they've done it. They love it. Consumers use it."
The wrangling does not affect fish because Congress did not include fish last year when it delayed the mandatory labeling. Fresh and frozen fish will be required to carry labels beginning in April.
At one point in time I think there was a clause in the NAFTA that prohibited the national identification of food so to prevent undue consumer awareness that might lead to an undue discrimination on the part of consumers. I want to know where my food is grown, processed, and manufactured so I can properly discriminate against those countries where their product may kill me and my family because of the pesticides and fecal content therein.
"I can't find any real opposition to doing exactly what we want to do here," Blunt said.
Well, FReepers, if you really want to know where your food comes from so you can boycott France, etc., then you must call and write your congresscritters and let them know that conservatives agree with legislation requiring info on country of origin.
Does it cost extra to print "Grown in America" on the label?
So this is going to be done quickly in the dark of the last days? By the current House? That makes me ill. I don't want food from some countries who have no standards on how they're fertilized, watered, medicated and fed.
My thoughts exactly. I'll pay the extra penny per package that I buy.
How about cheeses and wines? I`m not big on wines but I love the stinkier types of cheeses, and I`ll never buy German beer again.
If we're going to require country of origin labels, wouldn't it make sense to require it on imported foods only? Why add to the costs of our domestic producers?
I am being serious here; what don't I know about how much the COST will be to do this?
This is stupid, IMO, but admittedly I don't know what's involved.
If they can get a campaign donation from a big food company to keep their cheap Mexican/S. American stuff on the shelves unlabeled, the Republican whores will vote their way. Do you remember the e-coli outbreak from Mexican scallions a couple of years ago that killed 10 people in PA? They are not sanitary in their growing or packing practices and I do not buy anything that is not labeled from the USA. I guess I'll start growing my own produce.
Bad freaking idea RepublicRATs! This GOP really pisses me off. No wonder I haven't give a dime to the RNC in decades.
The cost would be minimal (if it was more than a penny per piece I'd be shocked) and there's no reason we would need to require it for domestic producers only for foreign producers.
I want to know where my food is coming from also----are these guys idiots?
I do not buy veggies from Mexico if I can at all help it. I will pay a few cents extra to not buy them. However, there are several chains who do not put country of origin on their signs concerning produce. The chain that I buy from will, most of the time, in the corner of their sign have written country of origin.
I read in the paper today that there's talk in the Senate about repealing the rule which will require country-of-origin labeling on most foods sold in the USA. I am a conservative Republican and I find such talk outrageous.
American consumers have every right to know where their food comes from and to be able to make purchases accordingly. It seems to me that those who oppose this legislation want to take freedom of choice away from consumers on this matter.
Please do whatever you can to fight this.
I agree with you Jim. The "one-size-fits-all" approach is just unnecessary.
Good. I'll dupe yours and send it out. Thanks.
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