031149 Republicans Attempting to Kill COOL?

Washington - A new plan crafted by Republican negotiators would kill country-of-origin labeling for meat, Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., charged Friday.

Daschle said the plan was formulated in congressional negotiations that excluded Democrats.

The new farm bill, which became law in May of 2002, contained the provision to require country-of- origin labeling, or COOL, for many products, including meats, fruits and vegetables, beginning in September 2004. It would require meatpackers and grocers to inform consumers about the origin of the meat they buy.

The meatpacking industry says mandatory labeling would be costly and burdensome for meatpackers and processors, as well as farmers and ranchers.

News of the latest deal in Congress appears to be a precursor to repealing COOL, Daschle said in a news release.

Over the past several days, Republicans met in private, denying Democratic members of the Appropriations Committee access to the meetings, Daschle said. The tentative agreement reached in the meetings would initially delay implementation of COOL for two years — beyond next year's presidential election, he said.

"At the urging of White House officials and the large meat-packing cartel, there appears to be an agreement that will effectively kill the new country-of-origin labeling law," Daschle said. "This is a very thinly disguised proposal to kill COOL. I don't think the American people will be fooled."

The proposal not only calls for a delay in COOL for meat and meat products, as was proposed in the House bill, but also for fruits and vegetables, Daschle said. The only labeling provision that will go into effect on time (September of next year) concerns wild fish, a provision supported by Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The Republican proposal is expected to be included in a large omnibus appropriations measure that will be considered in the next few days.

South Dakota Farmers Union President Dennis Wiese also criticized the move, reportedly arranged by Stevens and Rep. Don Young, also an Alaska Republican.

"These are not partisan political issues," Wiese said in a news release. "Country-of-origin labeling makes sense from almost every angle — promoting consumer safety, supporting our own domestic livestock producers and protecting our overseas markets."

Meanwhile, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said the U.S. Agriculture Department is improving its proposed rules for the program and has addressed some of the concerns he thinks led House members to block it.

"For example, nearly a year ago, USDA said the cost of keeping records to comply with COOL would total $2 billion," Johnson said in a news release. "Now, USDA's rule reduces the record keeping cost estimate by $1.5 billion."

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