R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America
For Immediate Release
January 27, 2003
406-252-2516
R-CALF USA Says It Will Help Producers Verify Country of Origin Labeling
Washington, D.C .- In a meeting today with USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs William Hawks, R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) said it will help U.S. cattle producers comply with any final rules for mandatory country of origin labeling. R-CALF USA Country of Origin Labeling Committee Chair Danni Beer told Hawks that, "Our members want to compete in the marketplace and that is why we are committed to making mandatory country of origin labeling work." Beer said cost-effective rules can be written for mandatory labeling and it is the proper role of a national cattle association to help its members comply with those rules.
Beer said her organization is proposing a plan to ensure that mandatory labeling benefits producers and consumers at a very low cost to the industry. She said USDA's $2 billion dollar cost estimate for voluntary labeling is grossly overstated because it assumes no records are kept by any segment of the industry that can help determine if cattle originated in the United States. The estimate also ignores existing programs such as the Federal Purchase Program in which 49 packing plants participate to certify the origin of meat. Beer said such deficiencies in USDA's estimate are so great that "they render the USDA cost estimate meaningless."
"The first step of our plan is to get the facts on the table regarding what is already available within our industry so we can make informed decisions about how best to implement the mandatory labeling program," said Beer. The second step, said Beer, is to urge USDA to accept R-CALF USA's proposal to require importers to track all imported cattle to the point of slaughter. "Since only about 8 percent of the cattle slaughtered in the U.S. are imported cattle, and the remaining 92 percent are necessarily domestic and eligible for the USA label, it would be far more cost effective to develop a system that recognizes this fact and places no burden on producers who do not import cattle," she said.
The third step is to develop a form that producers can sign to meet any additional requirements imposed by USDA. Beer referenced the generic forms U.S. producers have previously been asked to sign to attest to the fact that they do not feed any ruminant by-products to their cattle. "If any such additional forms are necessary, we will both develop and provide them to our members as a service to the industry," Beer said.
Beer pointed out that despite the deficiencies in USDA's cost estimate, the nation's largest beef packer, Tyson/IBP, has mailed flyers to producers urging them to call Congress to ask for the repeal of country of origin labeling. "IBP is using USDA's unsupported cost estimate to scare producers into giving up on country of origin labeling," she said.
Beer also said that because the beef processing and retailing industries have not used the voluntary labeling program that has been in effect for 30 years, the chances are "extremely thin" that the beef industry will attempt to comply with the recently proposed voluntary labeling guidelines. "R-CALF USA's primary focus is on the mandatory labeling program that goes into effect on September 30, 2004, and USDA has not yet asked for comments specific to the mandatory program," she said.
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R-CALF
USA, the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America
is a national, non- profit cattle association representing cattle producers
in the areas of trade and marketing. It has 7700 individual members in 42
states and over 30 affiliated local and state cattle and farm organizations.
For more information, visit www.rcalf.com
or call 406-252-2516.