Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), implemented and ended under USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack's first round at USDA under the Obama administration. And that issue resurfaced in his Tuesday session with lawmakers.
Asked by Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., about the Product of USA label deployed by USDA and whether it has evolved and kept up with consumer expectations, Vilsack said, “If it's the same policy as it was four years ago when I left, the answer is no. We made every concerted effort to try and create better transparency, better information for consumers because we understand and appreciate that consumers want to know where their food comes from. They want to know when they're buying U.S. and when they're not buying – when they're buying someplace – from someplace else.”
Specifically on COOL, Vilsack responded to Fischer and to a separate question from Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., on the topic with the same refrain: “I am absolutely willing to listen to anybody and everybody who's got an idea about how we can circumvent or how we can get to a point where the WTO doesn't necessarily slap it down that creates retaliatory impacts on… on American agriculture.”
And pushing ahead with COOL will prompt retaliation from Canada and Mexico, something Vilsack said was “not a good solution.” But any effort on the COOL front would have to be WTO compliant, he stressed.