August 8, 2002

National Farmers Union is encouraging farmers and ranchers to submit comments to proposed voluntary country-of-origin labeling guidelines by USDA's Friday (Aug. 9) deadline. USDA is seeking public comments on structuring voluntary country-of-origin labeling guidelines mandated by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.

The new law requires retailers to inform consumers, at the final point of sale, of the country of origin of certain commodities. The covered commodities include: beef, lamb, pork, fish, peanuts, and fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables.

"We must continue the fight to ensure that it is implemented according to the language in 2002 farm bill," said NFU President Dave Frederickson. "Specifically, the law requires that for a covered commodity to receive a U.S. label, the product must be 'born, raised and slaughtered in the U.S.' or 'grown and processed in the U.S.' This requirement is important to our domestic agriculture producers, and we encourage farmers and ranchers to relay its importance to USDA."

The new farm law requires mandatory country-of-origin labeling beginning Sept. 30, 2004. All information must be in written format and submitted before the deadline to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Room 2085-S, Mail Stop 0299, 1400 Independence Avenue. SW, Washington DC 20250-0299; faxed to (202) 720-3499; or e-mailed to: cool@usda.gov. According to Frederickson, comments may also be sent via the National Farmers Union Web site, www.nfu.org.