Posted: Thursday, June 16, 2005 7:00 pm
Congress has created another fine mess on the issue of labels to tell consumers where their meat comes from. First it passed a law requiring the labels. Then it refused to allow the law to be implemented. This puts the whole issue in a limbo that not only blocks mandatory labels but also discourages promotion of voluntary labels.
Who is going to want to invest much in a voluntary system when the whole thing could go down the tubes if Congress ever gets around to implementing it on a mandatory basis?
Just how deeply the issue has become mired in Washington politics became clear last week when the House voted to forbid the U.S. Agriculture Department to spend money on the new requirement.
Meanwhile, other parts of the country-of-origin labeling requirement have gone into effect. Consumers now can determine whether their shrimp came from the United States or from Ecuador. They can find out that their apples came from Chile.
But their steak?
Unfortunately, that's still a mystery.
There's little doubt consumers want to know. Polls show as many as three-fourths of U.S. consumers support country-of-origin labeling.
The concept also has considerable support in ranch country, although opinions differ on whether the law as written is workable. The Nebraska Cattlemen support labeling, for example, but are comfortable waiting for a better law. The new Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska are more disappointed. "The food we put in our mouths, we don't know where it comes from," President Chris Abbott said.
Powerful opposition to labeling has come from retailers, who would have to help enforce it, and from meatpackers, who say it would add to the cost of beef.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns said he favors a voluntary approach. "The one-size-fits-all mandatory approach, I just don't think it's a fit here," Johanns said in Des Moines, Iowa, at the World Pork Expo.
Nebraska's House delegation split on the issue, with Reps. Jeff Fortenberry and Tom Osborne favoring labels and Rep. Lee Terry opposing.
Implementation could be revived during conference committee negotiations between the House and Senate on the agriculture appropriations bill.
What's needed from Congress is a definitive statement on whether it's serious about requiring the labels.
Members of Congress have had more than enough time to think, rethink and think again about this issue.
If they're going to require the labels, they ought to come up with a workable system without wasting more time.
If they're going to pull back on mandatory meat labels, they ought to at least get the government out of the way of those who want to implement a voluntary approach.