Congress Delays Country-of-Origin Labeling

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2004-1-26

This is Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English Agriculture
Report.

The United States Congress has acted to delay a new requirement
to identify food products by the country they came from. Food
sellers would have to tell people where meat and fish were raised,
and where fruits and vegetables were grown.

Congress passed the requirement for country-of-origin labeling
two years ago. The measure was to take effect this September. But a
spending bill approved last Thursday included an amendment to delay
the rule until two-thousand-six.

Senator Tom Daschle and other supporters of labeling say they
will try to stop the delay. Mister Daschle, leader of the Democratic
minority in the Senate, says the delay would kill the program.

But Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman says country-of-origin
labeling is a marketing tool and not a food safety program. She says
the delay is needed to give Congress more time to consider the
effects of the requirements.

Major processors, producers and sellers oppose the rule. They say
all it would do is increase costs. Some industry groups say they
will organize their own labeling system, but not as a requirement.

Many smaller and independent farmers say people are interested to
know where their food comes from. Supporters of labeling note a
recent public opinion study. It found that eighty-two percent of
Americans would like to see country-of-origin labeling. The National
Farmers Union and other farm groups, as well as public interest
groups, say they will fight the delay.

Bill Bullard is chief executive officer of a cattle producers
group called R-Calf USA. USA stands for United Stockgrowers of
America. Mister Bullard tells us that forty-eighty countries already
have such measures. He says labeling is an urgent issue. He says
nothing proves this better than the recent case of mad cow disease
in Washington state. Officials learned that the infected cow had
been imported from Canada.

Currently, imported beef receives the same mark of Agriculture
Department approval as American beef. But many of those who raise
American beef are not happy with that. They say they work hard to
sell the best product, and they want people to know. Tom Connelley
is a rancher in South Dakota. He sells his beef directly to the
public. And he says business is improving.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario
Ritter. This is Faith Lapidus.