Central South Dakota News

U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) has initiated a nationwide campaign to support American farmers and ranchers by advocating for the inclusion of Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) in the 2024 Farm Bill. With the Farm Bill deadline approaching on September 30, policy frameworks have been proposed by both parties in the House and Senate, with the House framework already passing through the House Agriculture Committee. Producers from South Dakota and across the nation have shown strong support for including an MCOOL solution in the Farm Bill.

Originally passed in the 2002 Farm Bill, MCOOL was repealed in 2015 following disputes filed by Canada and Mexico with the World Trade Organization. A report before its repeal indicated that 90% of consumers favored requiring food sellers to indicate on package labels the country of origin of fresh meat.

Currently, most imported products into the United States must disclose their country of origin to consumers. Existing country of origin labeling laws apply to agricultural food products such as lamb, goat, chicken, venison, wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, and ginseng.

Rounds is urging his Senate colleagues to join his letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee requesting that MCOOL be added to the framework for the 2024 Farm Bill. He is also calling on farm and ranch advocacy groups to encourage their Senators to support this effort. The deadline to sign onto the letter is June 24.

“It is past time to reinstate mandatory country of origin labeling for beef,” said Rounds. “U.S. farmers and ranchers work hard to produce high-quality products for their fellow Americans. They deserve to have their beef differentiated from foreign-made product. Consumers want to be able to purchase beef born, raised and processed in the United States without wondering if it’s secretly coming from a foreign country. I encourage my colleagues to join me in the fight to get MCOOL included in our next farm bill.”

Rounds has been a vocal supporter of MCOOL since he began his tenure in the Senate in 2015. He led efforts to close the ‘Product of USA’ labeling loophole by introducing legislation in October 2019 ensuring that only beef products born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the United States could carry this label. In March 2024, after years of work, USDA finalized a rule defining that “Product of USA” or “Made in USA” labels can only be applied under these conditions.

The full text of Rounds' letter reads:

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Dear Chairwoman Stabenow and Ranking Member Boozman:

American farmers and ranchers produce some of the highest quality beef products globally. Consumers and producers across the nation recognize this fact and seek additional market integrity. Therefore, we believe it is past time to reinstate mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL) for beef as part of developing a new Farm Bill.

For almost a century, U.S. trade law has required most imported products to bear a country-of-origin label. Americans recognize consumer labeling laws' clear benefits and regularly use this information when making purchasing decisions. Yet many agricultural commodities have been excluded from these requirements despite efforts by producer and consumer groups who successfully incorporated retail-level MCOOL into the 2002 Farm Bill.

Following its implementation, producers and consumers enjoyed increased marketplace transparency until large meatpacking companies and foreign beef interests worked towards its repeal after Canada and Mexico filed disputes with WTO leading Congress officially rescind it in 2015.

Since then American cattle producers have faced significant market fluctuations while large meat packers realized immense profits through forward contracting formula-based sales despite rising cattle prices; evident future market disruptions call for federal government intervention supporting transparency within our beef labeling system providing level playing field aiding volatile markets benefiting hardworking American farmers/ranchers producing safest best-tasting global beef against unfair foreign competition failing meet US animal health/consumer safety standards despite USDA's recent "Product USA" final rulemaking further work remains addressing reasonable WTO compliant means reimplementing MCOOL via upcoming Farm Bill legislative action ensuring trade leaders develop feasible solutions resolving longstanding issue safeguarding domestic industry interest fostering equitable competitive environment aligning public preference regulatory mandate restoring lost confidence bolstering economic stability rural communities reliant upon agriculture sector prosperity thriving national economy

Thank you for your consideration looking forward working together finalizing forthcoming comprehensive legislative package reflecting shared commitment supporting America's farming/ranching legacy

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