Country of Origin Labeling

Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee held a public hearing to conduct general oversight of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack testified, taking questions from committee members on various programs and projects the department manages and executes. Members referenced reports by USDA Inspector General Phyllis Fong (OIG) and the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). “I appreciate Secretary Vilsack’s time and cooperation today as the committee h... Read more

Remarks as prepared for delivery: I want to welcome the Secretary today and thank him for being here. He and his staff have worked hard to fulfill many of the Committee’s oversight requests this first seven months. We appreciate your cooperation and your staff working with my staff. It is Congress’ responsibility implicit in the U.S. Constitution and explicit in the House Rules to conduct oversight of the executive branch. The American people demand that we hold government accountable for the re... Read more

Washington, D.C. - In advance of today’s Senate hearing on U.S. country of origin labeling, Mexican and Canadian officials sent separate letters to Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairman and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, stating that a full repeal of COOL is the only option. “For Canada, legislative repeal of COOL is the only approach that will achieve this end,” wrote Canadian Minister of Agriculture Gary Ritz. “Retaliation is imminent and ... Read more

Washington, D.C. - Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway issued the following statement in response to new Senate legislation that contradicts the House-passed bill (H.R. 2393) which repeals mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) for beef, pork, and chicken. Introduced by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the Senate legislation leaves in place several of these burdensome mandatory labeling requirements. “Any conversation about a voluntary program must be preceded by a fu... Read more

Washington, D.C. - Today, the House passed H.R. 2393, the Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act, by a vote of 300-131. Introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX), H.R. 2393 amends the Agriculture Marketing Act of 1946 to effectively repeal mandatory country of origin labeling requirements for beef, pork, and chicken. “I am thankful for the support of my colleagues today in passing this common-sense, bipartisan bill that is a necessary targeted response to av... Read more

Remarks as prepared for delivery: “Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 2393, the Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act of 2015, and yield myself such time as I may consume. ‘Mandatory country of origin labeling is really a marketing program, a heavy-handed approach by this Federal Government to demand a marketing program that may or may not work.’ “Those were my words before this very chamber— spoken more than 10 years ago. It turns out my doubts were well-founded. The program has not wo... Read more

Washington, D.C. - Today, the COOL Reform Coalition sent Congress a letter to express strong support for H.R. 2393, the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Amendments Act of 2015. House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) introduced the bipartisan bill, along with several of his colleagues, and the House Agriculture Committee approved the bill on May 20, 2015. The COOL Reform Coalition’s letter is below, along with the list of more than 100 groups supporting H.R. 2393. June 8,... Read more

Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee approved H.R. 2393, a bill to amend the Agriculture Marketing Act of 1946, by a recorded vote of 38-6. A combination of 68 Democrats and Republicans joined Chairman K. Michael Conaway in introducing this bipartisan bill that will effectively repeal country of origin labeling requirements for beef, pork, and chicken, while leaving intact the requirements for all other covered commodities. “This bill is a targeted response that will remove ... Read more

Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning. We have under consideration the bill, H.R. 2393. This bill is narrowly drafted to eliminate the requirement for country of origin labeling for meat products from cattle and hogs for which the WTO ruled against the program. We also eliminate the requirement for chicken, which faced high costs and little if any quantifiable benefits, and asked to have this mandate repealed. No other products are affected. At 10AM this past Monday morning, the World T... Read more

Washington, D.C. - Today, House Agriculture Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) introduced H.R. 2393, a bill to repeal mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements for beef, pork, and chicken products. Chairman Conaway and his colleagues held a bipartisan press conference with representatives from industries that are targets of retaliation by Canada and Mexico. H.R. 2393 would amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to repeal Country of Origin Labeling requirements with respect t... Read more