R-CALF is hopeful the details of the U.S.-Mexico announcement as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations will include country-of-origin meat labeling.
R-CALF, a long-time supporter of COOL, in a statement by its CEO said: “We hope that a further release of details will show that COOL will be required for Mexican beef and beef from Mexican cattle.” The organization says trade agreements, like NAFTA, allow unlimited numbers of tariff-free cattle from countries like Mexico, where cattle are overproduced at a significantly lower cost, and displace opportunities for current and aspiring U.S. cattle producers to expand or start their herd.
R-CALF continues to argue that because beef from these imported cattle can be sold as a “Product of USA,” multinational beef packers “wallow in higher profits” because they can import lower-cost cattle into the U.S. market. The organization claims that Since NAFTA, the U.S. imports on average 1.1 million Mexican cattle each year, and since U.S. domestic cattle shrank by 6.5 million.
Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.