09/29/08 Its USA, not North America

When country of origin labeling for meat begins in a few days some meat packers who co-mingle products from the US, Mexico and Canada want to save money by labeling the meat as North America. Undersecretary for Agriculture Bruce Knight says that label probably goes beyond the intent Congress had in passing the labeling legislation and is a more liberal interpretation that USDA had when it wrote the requirements. Knight admits it will take some time to figure out some of these sticky issues. KNIGHT "What we're intending to do is survey the practices, work with folks." Retailers are making the adjustments on packaging and on labels for meat and produce to provide the country of origin labeling. KNIGHT "And we are anticipating spending the first six months in educational outreach, informed compliance if you will, really working closely with the retailers." The 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills require country of origin labeling for all beef, pork, lamb, goat, chicken, fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables, peanut, pecan, ginseng and macadamia nut covered commodities sold by designated retailers. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott