For Immediate Release: February 25, 2021
Contact: R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard
Phone: 406-252-2516; r-calfusa@r-calfusa.com
Ranch Group Responds to Ag Secretary’s Interest in COOL
Billings, Mont. – In a letter sent today to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, R-CALF USA responded to statements made by Vilsack during his Senate confirmation hearing held earlier this month. Vilsack had then indicated an interest in revisiting country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef if it could be done without triggering the retaliatory tariffs authorized by the World Trade Organization (WTO) during Vilsack’s previous term as Agriculture Secretary.
In today’s letter, the group attached a proposed draft bill that Congress can use to require all beef sold in America to be labeled as to where the animal was born, raised, and harvested. Also attached is a summary that explains why the proposal should alleviate the concerns raised by the WTO regarding the old COOL law that Congress repealed after 2015.
The letter states the proposal would also accomplish what the old COOL law did, which was to eliminate the mislabeling of foreign beef products with a “Product of U.S.A.” label.
“Reinstating a functioning mandatory COOL law is vital to U.S. cattle producers who are presently without the means to build demand for their U.S. cattle and to U.S. consumers who desire to know from what country(s) their beef originates,” the letter adds.
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R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is the largest producer-only lobbying and trade association representing U.S. cattle producers. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the United States cattle industry. Visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516 for more information.
