In April 2003, Informa Economics, Inc. (then Sparks Companies, Inc.)
published a cost assessment for mandatory country of origin labeling
(COOL) of certain food items based on anticipated implementation
requirements as could best be determined at that point in time. The US
supply chain requirements for the COOL program that has been implemented
from the 2008 Farm Bill are less stringent than those first anticipated
when COOL was included in the 2002 Farm Bill. Consequently, Informa
Economics has gone through the process of updating the cost assessments
for the cattle/beef and hog/pork sectors. This report is based on
information gathered through 2009. For the cattle/beef sector, Informa
would put total supply chain COOL costs at $1.058 to $1.265 billion.
For the hog/pork sector, the total industry cost burden for COOL is now
estimated at $167.5 to $228.0 million. While lower than the 2003
estimates, there are still significant costs attributed to COOL
compliance. These added costs will need to be covered by beef and pork
supply chain participants, from cattle and hog producers right through
to beef and pork consumers.
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