August 20, 2002

A provision of the new farm law struck a raw nerve in Canada. It is the requirement that USDA implement a voluntary country of origin labeling program beginning Sept. 30, for meat, fish, fruits, vegetables and peanuts. Mandatory labeling at the retail level would follow in September 2004. The law does not apply to food service establishments.

For meat products to be labeled as originating from the United States, beef, pork and lamb must be exclusively born, raised and slaughtered here. There is a provision in the law allowing for cattle to be transshipped from Alaska or Hawaii and stop in Canada, but for no more than 60 days.

Stewart Truelsen, director of broadcast services for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says the AFBF strongly supports the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) program because it allows consumers to be better informed and gives them more choices, particularly at the meat counter. "That's exactly what the Canadians don't like," Truelsen says.

"They don't want American consumers lingering at the meat counter deciding whether to buy American or Canadian meat. So fearful are they that the Vancouver Sun in British Columbia carried a three-page article on its business page under the headline 'B.C. Ranchers Fight for Survival.'"

Sun reporter Chris Rose says, "Canadian analysts fear (U.S.) stores will eventually stop selling imported beef because the cumulative additional expense of labeling each cut would total many millions of dollars. For the most part, American shoppers could end up buying only U.S. beef."

Last year Canada sold 51% of its slaughter cattle, beef and beef products to the United States at a cost of $3.3 billion. Presumably that total will drop with country of origin labeling, but there's no guarantee. American producers will have to continue to produce the most nutritious, best tasting food in the world, or consumers will select imported products.

Canada's beef industry attacks country of origin labeling as a non-tariff trade barrier, but that's not the case, Truelsen says. It would be a violation of WTO rules to label products only as "imported." However, it is permissible to label them as to country of origin, says Truelsen.

Comments from meat industry and producer groups, though, suggest that not only Canadian but many U.S. interests are concerned about the potential complexity of the law, and unsure whether it can adequately deal with various common situations, such as when livestock are born in one country but fed in another.