Just over a decade ago, beef sold in United States grocery stores was labeled with its country of origin. The requirement at the time was that beef be labeled as to where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered. So beef from an animal born in Mexico and raised and slaughtered in the United States was labeled “Born in Mexico, Raised and Slaughtered in the U.S.” Beef exclusively produced in the U.S. was labeled, “Born, Raised, and Slaughtered in the U.S.” And imported beef was labeled with the country of origin listed on the box or package when it was inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection before entering the U.S. market. That means all the beef in a box from Brazil was required to be labeled “Product of Brazil.” And, importantly, the law required that the foreign label be retained through retail sale, meaning all the way to the consumer.
This law was in effect from May 2013 until it was repealed by Congress at the end of 2015. While mandatory country-of-origin labeling (MCOOL) was in place, consumers had complete and accurate information regarding the origins of all the beef they purchased at their grocery store for their families.
Soon after the MCOOL law for beef went into effect, the same groups that oppose MCOOL today filed a lawsuit against the MCOOL law. These groups included the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, both the Mexican and Canadian cattle organizations, and four trade groups representing beef packers.
In their lawsuit, the beef packers and their allies brought forth their strongest arguments against MCOOL. Those arguments include:
1. The market for livestock and meat in the United States, Canada and Mexico is highly integrated, and U.S. packing plants are dependent on live cattle imports from Canada and Mexico, particularly plants close to the Canadian and Mexican borders.
2. Meat from livestock imported from Canada and Mexico is interchangeable with meat from domestic animals.
3. And perhaps their most famous argument: They said “beef is beef, whether the cattle were born in Montana, Manitoba or Mazatlán.”
4. All meat sold in the U.S., whether imported or domestic, is subject to health and safety requirements overseen by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
5. It is too costly to differentiate beef based on its origin.
Now, the cost argument can be readily dismissed on the grounds that MCOOL has been in effect for fish, fruits and vegetables, certain nuts, lamb and chicken since the mid-2000s without complaints of burdensome costs from either producers or consumers. We had previously estimated the cost of MCOOL for beef to be minuscule – just pennies per pound.
The other arguments can be boiled down into two categories:
1. MCOOL disrupts the status quo: They argue that the U.S. beef supply chain has become dependent on imports, and they want to keep it that way.
2. MCOOL is unnecessary: They argue there is no difference between beef produced exclusively in the United States versus beef produced under the production regimes of foreign countries.
Now, disrupting the status quo is exactly what is needed to reverse the decades-long contraction of the U.S. cattle industry. For decades the U.S. ignored the alarming reductions in the number of cattle producers and cattle, resulting in today’s striking imbalance between supply and demand and our growing dependency on imports. We need to rebuild our domestic cattle industry so America can become self-reliant in beef production – something we cannot do if we maintain the status quo and continue growing our dependency on imports, which have continually displaced growth opportunities for American cattle producers.
Also, and contrary to MCOOL opponents, we believe beef produced from U.S. cattle is distinguished as the safest and most wholesome beef in the world. How and where an animal is raised makes a huge difference in the quality of its meat. For example, heath care experts have been raising alarms about antimicrobial resistance, a problem that can arise from the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in livestock.
The use of antibiotics in cattle is limited in the U.S., as domestic cattle producers must obtain a veterinary prescription to use or feed antibiotics to livestock. This is a domestic production standard imposed exclusively on U.S. producers by the U.S. government. It is not a standard imposed on imported cattle or beef. So this is just one example demonstrating that the U.S. claim of producing the best beef in the world under the very best of conditions is true.
Isn’t it time that consumers be allowed to choose the best beef in the world produced under the best of conditions? We believe it is, and that’s why we continue urging Congress to reinstate mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef.
