mCOOL information

There has been a lot of interest in the country-of-origin labeling and the apparently politically motivated House of Representatives voting on the subject. A few weeks ago I knew nothing about this subject, then little by little, more politically motivated social media posts have appeared. The trend appears to be blaming the House of Representatives for its disappearance. By this time I had done more research and have decided to post items that I have found today 5/30/2020 and forward. This will be a living document but I will attempt to add dates with any changes. (For the record, I think we should have COO labeling)

This is what today’s Facebook post stated as a headline: “The House of Representatives just voted 300-131 to remove ‘country-of-origin labeling’ on chicken, pork, and beef sold in the U.S.”

Below we have background information I found from websearches and other background information.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/jul/02/facebook-posts/canadian-hog-farmers-and-congress-want-repeal-cons/ has a balanced, informational post on this subject and is well worth reading in total. The 2015 article starts with a big picture of meat with words written across it. Just below the article text: “Canadian hog farmers and Congress want to repeal a consumer labeling law. Here’s why.” Then there is a lot of text – pros, cons and backgound information. Finally it ends with the below paragraph.

” The Senate has yet to decide on the labeling law’s fate and, at this early stage, there has been support for making COOL voluntary. While country-of-origin labeling isn’t quite dead meat, the House voted for repeal. We rate the claim True. “

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_country-of-origin_labeling_of_food_sold_in_the_United_States provides someones commentary on mCOOL.

Country of origin labeling (COOL) (or mCOOL [m for mandatory]) is a requirement signed into American law under Title X of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (also known as the 2002 Farm Bill), codified at 7 U.S.C. § 1638a as Notice of country of origin. This law had required retailers to provide country-of-origin labeling for fresh beef, pork, and lamb. The program exempted processed meats. The United States Congress passed an expansion of the COOL requirements on September 29, 2008, to include more food items such as fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables.^[1][2] Regulations were implemented on August 1, 2008 (73 FR 45106), August 31, 2008 (73 FR 50701), and May 24, 2013 (78 FR 31367). The 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act is the latest amendment to the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946. This act forms the basis of the current COOL requirements.

On December 18, 2015 Congress repealed the original COOL law for beef and pork, as a part of the omnibus budget bill^[3] because of a series of WTO rulings that prohibited labels based on country of origin on some products. COOL regulations exist for all other covered commodities such as fresh fruits, raw vegetables, fish, shellfish, muscle cuts and ground lamb, chicken, goat, peanuts, pecans, ginseng, and macadamia nuts.^[4] The Wikipedia article provides a lot more information on the above two paragraphs.

How does a bill become a law you might ask? The Bill Is a Law. A bill becomes law if signed by the President or if not signed within 10 days and Congress is in session. If Congress adjourns before the 10 days and the President has not signed the bill then it does not become law (“Pocket Veto.”) Sign and pass the bill—the bill becomes a law. … If two-thirds of the Representatives and Senators support the bill, the President’s veto can be overridden and the bill becomes a law. Do nothing (pocket veto)—if Congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes law after 10 days.

Of course, everyone needs to understand that the above process is a gross over-simplification. I will add more as time permits