Last night the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted in support of mandatory country-of-origin labeling.
Following the 58-36 vote to fully fund COOL implementation, National Farmers Union President Dave Frederickson issued this statement:
"National Farmers Union is extremely pleased the Senate demonstrated its strong support for mandatory country-of-origin labeling. The extraordinary leadership of Senators Daschle, Enzi, Johnson and Thomas and others shows the commitment in the U.S. Senate to keep COOL."
Frederickson also noted that the Senate vote sends a clear-cut message to the agriculture appropriations conference committee members and to the USDA to continue to move forward in the ongoing process of implementing mandatory country-of-origin labeling.
He said mandatory COOL provides an opportunity for the United States to expand the level of consumer choice, confidence and knowledge in the retail marketplace and to potentially increase the demand for U.S. origin commodities. He said COOL is a marketing tool for U.S. producers to differentiate their product at the retail level, and it gives consumers a choice in what they feed their families.