COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING IMPLEMENTATION

ISSUE:

  Mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) for most meat, fresh fruits, vegetables, pecans,
  peanuts,  macadamia nuts and ginseng began on September 30, 2008.  Numerous livestock
  stakeholders, along with Undersecretary Bruce Knight and other USDA staff, met August 26, 2008 to
  develop universal procedures for implementing requirements of the COOL law.  There was agreement
  among industry on universal procedures and language for producer affidavits and country of
  origin declarations. 

  AFBF, along with nearly 25 other organizations, has sent a letter to USDA outlining how industry
  will comply with the law accompanied by the affidavit/declaration statements.

  A COOL Factsheet, the consensus, recommended country of origin affidavit and declaration
  statements, a sample affidavit for cow/calf producers and producer affidavit when delivering to
 a packer, are linked below, along with a letter to all livestock industry stakeholders and the
 letter that was sent to Undersecretary Knight.

  In addition to using an affidavit/declaration of origin, the U. S. Department of Agriculture permits
  packers to rely on the presence of an official ear tag and/or marking on animals that are part of a
  National Animal Identification System (NAIS) compliant system or other official identification system,
  such as the Canadian or Mexico official systems.  For more information on how you can get official
  ear tags that are not only COOL and NAIS compliant but will also allow you to better collect and
  manage animal data and source and age verify your animals got to your Kansas Farm Bureau based,
  Beef Verification Solution website, www.agsolusa.com/bvs/ .

IMPACT:

  AFBF supports mandatory country of origin labeling and implementation of the law.  USDA has
  announced that it will be conducting industry outreach and education for the first 6-months of
  implementation in order to assist the food chain, from producer to retailer, with compliance of
  the law.  USDA has said that they will not be performing audits until April 2009 but expect retailers
  to make a determined effort to properly label covered products beginning on September 30.

                  COOL Factsheet

                  COOL Affidavit Statements

                  Sample COOL Cow-Calf Affidavit

                  Sample Producer Affidavit for a Packer

                  Stakeholder Letter

                  Ag Secretary Knight Letter

                  AFBF COOL PowerPoint

                  Frequently Asked Questions