Remember all those calls you made and emails you sent about Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), specifically addressing the loophole that allows imported meat and cattle to be labeled as “Product of the USA”?

Finally, our actions are paying off.

USDA announced a proposed rule that would ensure the voluntary “Product of U.S.A.” label can only be used on meat, poultry, and eggs from animals born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the United States.

Under current policy, imported meat can bear a “Product of U.S.A” label if it is repackaged at a USDA-inspected plant. The USDA’s proposed rule would close this loophole that allows multinational corporations to pass off their imported meat as a higher-quality product raised by U.S. farmers and ranchers.

This rule is following from President Biden’s “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy” which is working, among other things, “to ensure consumers have accurate, transparent labels that enable them to choose products made in the United States.”

President Biden stated: “American farmers and ranchers are also getting squeezed by foreign corporations importing meat from overseas with labels that mislead customers about its origin. Under current labeling rules, meat can be labeled “Product of USA” if it is only processed here—including when meat is raised overseas and then merely processed into cuts of meat here. For example, most grass-fed beef labeled “Product of USA” is actually imported. That makes it hard or impossible for consumers to know where their food comes from and to choose to support American farmers and ranchers.”

This is a big win, but we still have work to do to make this new rule a reality.

Let USDA know that, as farmers and/or consumers, we SUPPORT this proposed rule to close the meat labeling loophole!

• I support the proposed rule to close the misleading meat labeling loophole.
• Only meat from animals born, raised and processed in the U.S. should be allowed to have a “Product of the U.S.” label.
• The new “Product of the U.S.” labeling must apply to ALL meat, including single and multiple-ingredient products.
• Both independent cattle producers and consumers are being negatively impacted by the current “Product of the U.S.” label loophole (in Missouri and across our country), driving down prices paid to U.S. farmers and driving up prices paid by consumers.
• The current meat labeling loophole means that U.S. consumers are being misled into believing that imported meat is meat born, raised and processed in the U.S.
• USDA and Congress also need to work to pass mandatory Country of Origin Labeling for all meat sold in the U.S.