A New Mexico federal judge has dismissed with prejudice a pair of lawsuits accusing the Big Four meatpackers of falsely labeling their beef as “Product of the USA.”
U.S. District Judge Kea W. Riggs threw out the lawsuit brought by rancher Michael Lucero and consumer Robin Thornton against Tyson Foods, Inc., JBS USA, Cargill and National Beef Packing Company seeking compensatory damages.
The pair of lawsuits—which were consolidated into one—stated the labeling was misleading and fraudulent as it applies to animals raised in a foreign country and imported live for slaughter and processing in the U.S.
Riggs denied injunctive relief, stating the federal labeling by the USDA superseded other labels and ruled USDA has the authority to regulate country-of-origin labeling (COOL) without considering whether the labeling is misleading.
Lucero and Riggs asserted the packers had imported $6.2 billion of cattle per year and producers have lost $30 billion over the last four years. They also stated consumers should know where the meat they are buying comes from.
On March 26, the USDA responded to petitions from the Organization for Competitive Markets, American Grassfed Association, and the United States Cattlemen’s Association seeking to amend meat labeling. The groups stated since COOL was repealed in 2015, there has been no official definition of labeling “Made in the USA” or official definition of U.S. beef.
They asked the USDA to amend the labeling so that any beef product labeled as “Made in the USA,” “Product of the USA,” “USA Beef,” be derived from cattle that have been born, raised, and slaughtered in the U.S.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) concluded that animals which are “born, raised and slaughtered in another country but processed in the United States to be labeled as ‘Product of USA,’ may be causing confusion in the marketplace, particularly with respect to certain imported meat products,” the letter stated.
In response to the petitions, the FSIS indicated, “Rather than revise the Policy Book as requested in your petition, FSIS has decided to initiate rulemaking to address ‘Product of USA’ and other voluntary U.S. origin labeling statements because these issues have generated a significant amount of public interest and the agency wants to ensure that any changes to its current policy are accomplished by an open and transparent process.”
The COOL label was repealed by Congress in December 2015, after Mexico brought suit in the U.S. and appealed to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO ruled the COOL requirements violated U.S. trade obligations to Canada and Mexico.
Although Riggs denied that the cases could be refiled, the issue of COOL is not disappearing with legislation introduced by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and the proposed Beef Integrity Act sponsored by Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and John Thune (R-SD). —Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
