020544 USDA Says Labeling Foreign Meat is HardMay 24, 2002Washington - A law requiring meat to be labeled with its country of origin will be difficult to administer because of the movement of livestock between the United States and neighboring countries, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said. The new farm bill gives the department two years to implement the new labeling requirement, which will also apply to fish and produce. Veneman said she would consider a request from Canadian cattle producers to develop a grown-in-North America label that would cover Mexico, Canada and the United States. "I have not discussed this yet with the lawyers to determine whether or not this is an option, but it is something that they suggested and certainly we're going to look at every option that we can," Veneman told reporters. Cattle are shipped into the United States from both Mexico and Canada to be slaughtered. Under the law, livestock must be born and raised in the United States to be labeled as U.S.-produced. "It's going to be very difficult to identify a beef product that's been born, raised ... in the United States and we're going to have to have a very considered process in trying to determine how to implement this part of the bill, and we will do that," Veneman said. Advocates of the labeling requirement say it will allow U.S. consumers to distinguish American from foreign products. Critics say the real intent is to protect U.S. producers from foreign competition. The law bars the government from setting up a tracking system for livestock to verify the country of origin. The Bush administration had opposed including the labeling requirement in the farm bill.
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