A group of South Dakota state Congress members has introduced a bill that would require retail beef products sold in the state to bear a country-of-origin label. Online publication Meatingplace reports the rule would exclude prepared and ready-to-eat foods. Mandatory federal country-of-origin labeling was bitterly opposed by the meat processing industry and ultimately dismantled by a series of World Trade Organization decisions. WTO approved retaliations by Canada and Mexico, but Congress acted in late 2015 to remove COOL requirements for beef, pork and poultry before the retaliation efforts were put in place. However, Silvia Christen of the South Dakota Stock Growers Association, which promotes the state’s independent livestock producers, said her group supports the measure because it is what consumers want.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.