Ag groups were generally welcoming and appreciative to the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement of submitting a final rule regarding “Product of the USA” claims. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the finalization of the rule during the National Farmers Union convention in Scottsdale, AZ.
The final rule allows the voluntary “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label claim to be used on meat, poultry, and egg products only when they are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States. The rule will prohibit misleading U.S. origin labeling in the market and helps ensure that the information consumers receive about where their food comes from is truthful.
Ag groups sounded the horn of support and appreciation to the announcement, including American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Government Affairs Director, RJ Layher.
“We believe that this final rule provides a maximum amount of flexibility to our members but also to small and mid-sized processors with whom they do business with every day,” said Layher. He added, “This allows our members to extract any premium that may come along with that voluntary ‘Product to the USA’ label that consumers demand.”
Cattle groups also touted the move as a step in the right direction. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said, “NCBA has been committed to finding solutions to this problem ever since a producer-led NCBA working group raised the alarm, years ago, that imported beef could be mislabeled as a Product of the USA incorrectly at the end of the supply chain. We appreciate USDA’s effort to address this loophole.” NCBA added “We will remain focused on ensuring that these changes result in the opportunity for producer premiums while remaining trade compliant.”
In addition, the US Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) called the USDA rule a victory and highlighted a fundraising effort USCA Director Emeritus Leo McDonnell of Montana started in 2017 that initiated federal rulemaking to close the loophole created by the 2015 repeal of mandatory country-of-origin labeling.
“The final rule announced yesterday follows a request made by the USCA in a petition for rulemaking submitted to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service in 2019,” McDonnel stated. “This announcement takes the necessary steps to bring back truth in labeling.” USCA President Justin Tupper added, “USCA is thrilled that the final rule finally closes this loophole by accurately defining what these voluntary origin claims mean.”
However, not all cattle organizations thought the rule went far enough.
Northern Ag Network’s Andy Schwab spoke with Independent Beef Association of North Dakota (I-BAND) President Frank Tomac on the day of the announcement. Tomac said the rule is the step in the right direction, however, it doesn’t go far enough.
“It’s merely a consolation prize. Vilsack is trying to make us feel good, and the only way we’ll actually feel good, would be the implementation of Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling”, said Tomac.
R-CALF USA also called for Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) in their statement regarding the final rule.
“While this is an important step in the right direction, Congress needs to pass MCOOL as quickly as possible to require all beef sold in grocery stores to be labeled as to where the animal from which the beef was derived was born, raised, and slaughtered”, said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Boulard. He added, “Only then will consumers be informed as to which beef was produced by American cattle farmers and ranchers and which beef was produced under some foreign country’s food safety regime.”
Businesses seeking to utilize the voluntary labeling must comply with the rule by January 1, 2026.
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Northern Ag Network – 2024
