Country of Original Labeling (COOL) for food is finally here:
After years of wrangling, so-called “country of origin labeling” is expected to take effect at the end of the month, requiring most food retailers to disclose where many types of meat, produce and other food products come from. The new rules aim to make it easier for regular consumers to know whether their food was imported or not, much like they can find out whether the toys they buy for their children were made domestically or overseas.
I'm very interested to see how this works in practice. There appear to be some strange exemptions. For example:
the regulations exclude a variety of foods that fall under the labeling requirement but are considered to be processed, including roasted peanuts, breaded chicken and bacon. The exemption for processed food also means that certain foods that are mixed together don’t have to be labeled, such as a bag of lettuce that includes both Romaine and iceberg, or a package of frozen peas and carrots.
If you mix foods together, no label is required? Are we now going to see a trend towards mixing?
I'm also curious to see if there is any impact on import sales. Will there be a significant shift to domestic products now that people can see where foods come from? I assume some economists will study this issue and report back.
And finally, I wonder whether any U.S. trading partners will find things they don't like in the regulations and raise concerns at the WTO.
