*EPF315 09/15/2004
Senate Panel Rejects Stepped-Up Country-of-Origin Food Labeling Date
(Appropriators approve $84 Billion for agriculture in FY05) (370)

By Kathryn McConnell
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The Senate Appropriations Committee has rejected an attempt to move up the date for mandatory country-of-origin labeling of food.

The attempt to move to mandatory labeling of meat, fruits, vegetables and other food products beginning January 1, 2005, was defeated September 14 by a 14-14 tie vote. The amendment may be reintroduced when the appropriations bill reaches the Senate floor, according to news reports.

Labeling originally was to begin at the end of September 2004 but was later pushed back by Congress to September 30, 2006.

The committee also approved by voice vote an $84 billion measure to fund agriculture programs in the fiscal year beginning October 1 (FY05)

Midwestern ranchers want labels that tell consumers where their food originated because of concerns about competition from Canadian beef producers. The ranchers argue that labels could tell consumers if their meat is from an area where bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, has been identified, news reports say.

However, meatpackers and ranchers in the Southwest say that beef from Mexico and the United States is often mixed in packing houses and that labeling would increase processing costs.

The funding bill would provide $16.8 billion in discretionary funding for most U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) operations and for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The amount is nearly equal to that approved by the full House of Representatives in July.

The Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) would receive $824 million, a 6 percent increase over the current funding level. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) would get $792 million, a 10 percent increase.

Earlier in September, a Senate Appropriations subcommittee voted to relax U.S. trade restrictions with Cuba.

Relaxing the 42-year trade U.S. embargo with Cuba would make it easier for farmers and medical suppliers to obtain U.S. licenses to their products in the Caribbean country. However, the Bush administration opposes weakening the embargo, saying that Cuba's trade with other countries so far has benefited the regime of Fidel Castro, not the Cuban people, according to reports.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Return to Public File Main Page

Return to Public Table of Contents