Reps. Harriet Hageman (R-WY-At large) and Ro Khanna (D-CA-17) recently introduced H.R. 5081, the Country of Origin Labeling Enforcement Act of 2023, which would define U.S.-produced beef as “exclusively born, raised, slaughtered and packaged in the United States.”
The legislation is a companion bill to the American Beef Labeling Act in the Senate. Under the bill, processors who do not comply with country-of-origin labeling (COOL) regulations would be fined $5,000 per pound of beef illegally labeled as “Made in the USA.”
Khanna wrote in a news release, “We need to help American farmers who are competing with multi-national meat packing companies that are importing cattle and falsely labeling it as from the United States.”
The bill has the support of the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) and the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association.
“We are grateful to the House sponsors of H.R. 5081 and will work closely with them and other members of Congress to include MCOOL in the 2023 Farm Bill,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard in a statement.
