08/23/07 Clip COOL

Just when you though I ran out of stories about Country of Origin Labeling, I found some more ammunition. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to load the rifle. I hope you're not too bored about my articles on Country of Origin Labeling or COOL, but it is kind of fun to try to follow all the twists and turns of this proposed legislation. While just about everyone acknowledges there is a big push for consumers to know where their food comes from, beef packers are definitely against COOL's implementation. Now another group has joined the opponents of COOL  the Canadian Livestock Producers Against COOL or CLIP COOL. The Canadian organization says it is not worried about competing with U.S. meat but that meat packing facilities might not want the burden of correctly identifying meat that is not "born, raised, and processed" in the United States. They have even made accusations the U.S. is in violation of North American Free Trade Agreements. They would like to see rules changed so that meat processed in the United States would be treated as U.S. meat. I believe the Canadian organization likes the way the system works now with Canadian cattle that are processed and inspected in the United States getting a USDA stamp on it with no COOL label. I do remember strict regulations against U.S. beef animal importation into Canada regarding blue tongue and anaplasmosis that the Canadians thought were just fine. This is the United States. I think if Canada wants to merchandise beef here they play by our rules. I'm Jeff Keane. Western Livestock Reporter 8/15/07