Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns: Interim final Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) rule published

TSCRA Daily News Update, August 1, 2008

Interim final Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) rule published

The Interim final rule for Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) was posted on Monday, July 28.

Among other items, the rule covers muscle cuts and ground beef and dictates the standards that warrant various labels, including "United States Country of Origin." Covered commodities must be labeled with their country of origin, but can be exempted from labeling if they are an ingredient in a processed food item.

Additionally, the rule does not apply to food service establishments, such as restaurants.

The rule makes implementing COOL more feasible by reducing the recordkeeping retention requirements for suppliers and centrally-located retail records to one year.

Andy Groseta, president of NCBA and a cattle producer from Arizona, said that NCBA will be concentrating on assisting producers in their efforts to comply with the new rule.

"Our focus now is on how best to implement COOL in a manner that provides maximum benefit and minimal disruption to our ranchers," he said. "NCBA will continue to work on behalf of our cattlemen to put in place an effective and accurate labeling system. Additionally, we will be leading the effort to educate producers on how to comply with the new rule."