07/09/08 South Korean COOL

South Korea may be causing some headaches for U.S. beef producers with its on again, off again beef trade agreement, but that government is going full steam ahead with one program I agree with. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to tell you about it. Lately, I have been a little upset with the South Korean government's inability to close a beef trade agreement with the U.S., but it doesn't look like there is any problem implementing their version of County of Origin Labeling. This COOL legislation would make U.S. beef packers, retailers, restaurant owners and food service providers shake in their boots. While opponents of COOL in the U.S. complain about having to identify foreign beef, a South Korean restaurant will have to identify any foreign beef plus if it is a South Korean beef product specify whether the beef is from premium "hanwoo" cattle, regular meat cattle or from dairy cows. These regulations have come about because of demands of local South Korean cattle farmers so their products can be separated from lower quality beef. Wait a minute, demands from farmers? Looks like we've been going about things all wrong in our country. This is a serious program  over 1,000 monitors will be looking for violators to the labeling regulations and citizens will get rewards of up to two million won for reporting illegal labeling practices. A business caught mislabeling could be fined up to 30 million won and the owner facing jail time. This sure makes the U.S. Country of Origin Labeling program look like a puppy. I'm Jeff Keane.