Benefits of COOL to the Swine Industry

Abstract

The 2002 Farm Bill contained a controversial provision mandating country of origin labeling (COOL) of certain unprocessed foods (beef, pork, lamb, fish, seafood, peanuts, fruits and vegetables) sold through non-small grocery stores (i.e. stores which annually sell more than $230,000 of fruits and vegetables) beginning on September 30, 2004. The basic concept of COOL appears to be popular with consumers. Much of the controversy about COOL arises from concerns that many in the livestock-red meat industry have that COOL will be a costly regulation with little or no benefit for their sector. It is not the purpose of this paper to enter into the discussion of how accurate and verifiable, and therefore how costly and burdensome, the COOL record keeping requirements should be.