000913 Supermarkets May Label U.S. Beef

Washington - Most of the beef Americans eat is produced in the United States, but cattle producers and grocers are betting shoppers will buy more of it if they know for sure it's U.S.-produced.

After more than a year of negotiations, cattle producers have reached agreement with meatpackers and the supermarket industry on a voluntary system for labeling beef as “Made in the USA”

“I do expect to see it nationwide,” said John Motley, senior vice president of the Food Marketing Institute, which represents the supermarket industry.

Several national grocery chains, including Wal-Mart, Albertson's, and Safeway, are interested in the program along with regional chains such as Royal Ahold, which owns stores throughout the Northeast, and Texas-based H-E-B.

About 10% of beef sold in the United States is imported.

The program must be approved by the Agriculture Department, which would have to certify beef as U.S.-produced. Groups representing cattle producers, packers and supermarket industry filed a petition with the department last Friday seeking its OK for the system.

The labeled beef would cost more, but it's not clear how much, Motley said. Packers and cattle producers would be required to reimburse USDA for the cost of the certification program. Those costs would then be passed to consumers.

“We believe that the American cattle industry produces the tastiest and best beef in the world,” said George Hall, president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. “Providing a distinction between U.S. beef and imported beef could give U.S. consumers greater knowledge about the products they consume.”

Cattle producers, who want to curb cattle imports from Canada, have been pushing legislation in Congress for several years to require beef to be labeled with the country of origin but have been unable to overcome opposition from grocers and packers.

The voluntary system they agreed on contains a loophole that will allow cattle born in Mexico but fattened and killed in the United States to qualify for the made-in-the-U.S.A. label. Cattle would qualify as U.S-made so as long as they were imported at least 100 days prior to slaughter. About 1 million of the 36 million cattle slaughtered in the U.S. annually were born in Mexico.

Most cattle imported from Canada wouldn't qualify because they have already been fattened before they are shipped across the border and are slaughtered relatively quickly.

USDA officials said they had not yet reviewed the petition and declined comment Wednesday.

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