It's Getting COOL In Here

In addition to the obviously controversial subsidies in the U.S. farm bill currently under debate in Congress, there's another potentially contentious trade issue in the bill:  country of origin labeling (COOL) requirements for certain meat products.  The Palm Beach Post reports:

Last week, the U.S. House Agriculture Committee approved a compromise provision that implements mandatory country-of-origin labeling, also known as COOL, for beef, pork, lamb and goat.

The expansion of COOL, already in place for seafood, would take effect Sept. 30, 2008, if the provision survives current farm bill negotiations.

With the various imported food scares in recent months, it is understandable that consumers are concerned with the origin of their food.  On the other hand, a spokesman for U.S. beef producers noted:  "We are frustrated by the idea that COOL is a way to address safety problems in imported products, because it is not."  Furthermore, as my local congressman Tim Mahoney notes in the article, "producers' costs, and thus consumer prices, could rise."  Finally, some aspects of the implementation might raise concerns.  For example, as it stands now, the article reports, the law will not include beef and other meats sold at restaurants, or at institutions such as schools and hospitals; and poultry is not covered.  It's difficult to reach any definitive conclusions on WTO-consistency until the final law is drafted, but there does seem to be potential for concern.