House bill proposes voluntary meat origin labeling

House bill proposes voluntary meat origin labeling    The proposed 2005 Meat Promotion Act would replace the mandatory country-of-origin labeling program for meat, which is scheduled to take effect on Sept. 30, 2006.
   House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Reps. Marion Berry, R-Ark., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., sponsored the bill (H.R. 2068). Many meat and agricultural groups prefer voluntary origin labeling over a mandatory procedure.
   “Mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat would place significant new costs on beef, hog and sheep producers, with the largest impact falling on independent producers,” said Bob Stallman, president of the Washington-based American Farm Bureau Federation, in a May 4 statement.
   “This is clearly a marketing issue, not a food safety issue, and by approving a voluntary program, Congress would be placing control in the hands of the consumers at the marketplace,” Stallman added.
   The U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated the costs of the current mandatory origin-labeling program could cost as much as $4 billion in the first year alone, with several hundred million dollars a year in recurring costs. The USDA also estimated that more than 60 percent of the costs would be absorbed by the U.S. meat and livestock industry.
   “We believe consumers are willing to pay a premium for origin-verified meat products and it is up to the marketplace to meet that demand,” Stallman said.