Final Rule On Meat Labeling Law Issued

Washington, January 12, 2009  - A final rule implementing the Mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (MCOOL) law provides flexibility for the U.S. pork industry but remains a costly and potentially cumbersome statute, said the National Pork Producers Council. The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the final rule today.

The law requires muscle cuts of pork, beef, lamb and goat meat to be labeled in one of four categories:

• Category A: Pork from hogs “born, raised and slaughtered” in the U.S. must be labeled a product of the U.S.
• Category B: Pork from hogs born in Canada but raised and slaughtered in the United States, such as Canadian feeder pigs, must be labeled a product of the U.S. and Canada. Pork from a group of U.S.-born and Canadian-born hogs that are raised and slaughtered in the U.S. also may be labeled in Category B.
• Category C: Pork from hogs born and raised in Canada but brought in for immediate slaughter in the U.S. must be labeled a product of Canada and the U.S. The final rule allows pork that falls into Category B to be labeled under Category C.
• Category D: Pork from hogs born, raised and slaughter in Canada and imported into the U.S. must be labeled a product of Canada.

Animals in the United States on or before July 15, 2008, are considered “of U.S. origin.” Ground meat products can be labeled with a list of countries or possible countries from which they were derived.

The law also allows producers to use normal business records to verify their hogs’ origin.

Despite the flexibility provided in the implementing regulation, the MCOOL law has been estimated to cost the livestock industry $2.5 billion initially and nearly $212 million annually over the next 10 years. Already there is anecdotal evidence that pork producers have incurred higher transportation costs because some packing plants will process only U.S.-origin pigs, and packers are directing Canadian-born pigs to other plants.

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