COOL SCRAPPED

COOL (Country of Origin Labelling) has been scrapped by the U-S Congress.

Stupid move, I always look at we're the food I buy is
from. Oh well, I'll cut back more on store bought
food. I don't buy much there anyway, but I like
canned fruit ect.

just great! due to both of us having serious allergic reactions to some food products or their treatment, we re having to rely more and more on growing or raising our own food here on the farm, as we cant determine exactly where store-bought food comes from and what has been done to it, that's not progress that's going back at least 50 years to part of the farm being reserved for the family needs

Not disagreeing with you, we like to know where our food comes from as well.
When you compare buying shrimp from Vietnam or Gulf of Mexico then yes I want to know where it came from.
If you are comparing beef from Montana vs Alberta, then not as much of an issue.
Maybe continent of origin labelling would be a better plan.

Why did they do that?

Thought I would never see a farmer complain about having to grow their own food.

I actually could care less. We grow our own beef, raise our own chickens, buy a 4-H hog at the local fair, use our own pasta, and sometimes even make our own bread. Also have a garden every year with potatoes, tomatoes, corn, lettuce, strawberries, raspberries, beets, cucumbers, and carrots. And I will take a chance that these Mandarins I bought the other day won't kill me. I have a city dwelling cousin who supported COOL and I could see why. But I told her if you really want to know were your food came from, go find a local rancher willing to sell half a beef and plant a few spuds in the backyard.

You can blame N.C.B.A and the beef packers for C.O.O.L being scrapped. The big players want the cheaper imported cattle. Once more the little guy looses. Steve

Well maybe it's a good thing, maybe someday the
American idiot will wake up and want to have local
food again, and there will be an uprising in small
family farms again! I hope it bites everyone right in
the mindless, lazy, fat, American Azz! What's
Trumps slogan? Make America great again! I'd like
to see that happen. Good luck with that! Lol

Nope you guys got it wrong. We were sued in world court over the COOL labeling and we lost. The thing that bothers me here I thought we are a sovereign nation and yet we are letting the world tell us what to do inside our own borders? The COOL law was passed because that's what the people wanted. No we the people have no say because we are controlled by the UN/world? (us going along with the UN/world court thing was way before external_link's time)

Rick

whether or not you agree with COOL (and i do), canada and mexico were ready to levy ONE BILLION dollars of tariffs on US imports. maybe there is a way to have the COOL info available to us, but the law we had wasn't it.

I finally got my wife to take her glasses shopping and read the labels, and now its pointless? I don't want chinese poisoned food.

I always thought labelling should have gone one step further; The lable should have been labelled the actual city it was made in, or the actual company that made it; they could not call it a "Milwaukee" drill anymore, it ought to have been called a "Sinchuan" drill or whatever. The saw could not be called a "Porter Cable" saw, or a "Dewalt" saw, it had to be called a "Chwang-Dong-Tong" saw. Now THAT would really have clarified things.

To bad they didn't have the guts to get rid of WOTUS too. WOTUS is going to be much more harmful and expensive to the USA than COOL ever would. Don't know what WOTUS is, google it. If you own land in the USA your life just got a whole lot more expensive and filled with regulation.

Right on Rick we better tell the world to butt out. But the boys in Wash DC don,t have the stones to do much of anything right

my little girl likes dried fruit,I Looked at the label,,viet nam,,,,we dry our own apples and pears now,,,,its easy to do,,might want to look into it for your little girl I pretty sure you could buy some local apples and dry them on your woodstove,but I dont know how exactly,you could google it

I have read all of the posted remarks with great interest , and I have a question for you fellas. Why do
you believe that it is just fine to block the sale of imported products in favour of you own, but at the
same time feel you should have the right to ship as much of what any product you like into any foreign
market you please. If you guys want to trade with the rest of the world, then trade has to be a two way
street, not just when it is working in your favour, so that you can dump surplus farm products into the
markets of others. The NAFTA agreement was signed by , Mexico U.S, and Canada. COOL was only designed to
block livestock from Canada, and Mexico. If you don't want to live up to your trade deals , Then "you the
people" shouldn't make said deals. Bunch of crying sore losers is what I think. Don't know about Mexico ,
but Canadian standards meet and some times exceed those of the U.S. eg. U.S. standard for scc in milk is
750,000 . The Canadian standard is just 400,000 . Not too much to worry about from us. Often wonder about
imported goods from countries outside of NAFTA. Bruce from Canada

OK lets slow down a minute and have someone explain this to me.

The WTO has authorized Canada and Mexico to charge the U.S. $1 billion in retaliatory tariffs for country-of-origin labeling (COOL) on meat.

A retaliatory tariff is a tariff that one country usually uses to punish another country. We charge Canada a tariff on our oranges and Canada in turn charges a tariff on their milk.
So Canada and Mexico want to punish us for making them put labels on their meat supposedly to cover the cost of said labels.

So if the U.S. would have said OK to the WTO; go ahead and charge your tariff.
That would have meant the COOL labels would still have to be used and the imported meat price would have went way up in price.
So in the long run people in the U.S. would have stopped buying Canada and Mexico meat.

I can understand the out roar of the American public in the short term but I think Canada and Mexico would have backed down once meat started backing up at the border.

News Flash for you guys in Canada and Mexico.
While life would be rough in the U.S. without imports.
The United States is the ONLY country in the world that can survive with a closed border.
You guys want to play hard ball and try to manipulate our laws.
I say you better bring a BIG bat.

International trade is not about beating one another into submission, and it is not about my dog can beat your dog. It is about law. And I would feel that a country like the United States which puts so much emphasis on a fair and just society , with respect for all . Would there for honour their trade agreements . Trade deals work both ways , and we have been sucking the hind teat because of NAFTA ever since the ink dried .. I know I cannot type LOUDLY enough to argue with you guys, but man up and live with your commitments. Canada is the United States largest trading partner, and we don't manufacture trinkets that sell in the dollar store, or much of anything else It all went to Mexico, have a nice day. since NAFTA.

that's exactly what can happen too , Washington opened the door to terrorist on a much higher scale , we have every rite to know where our food comes from , from the city , processer,. rite down to the farm ////..this congress runs a very close 2nd to the worst prez in history ,... other congresses would have tried him for treason ,found him guilty and jailed him ,, also the former 1stlady would be removed from all public office for life because of her derilect of duty in the bengazi affair ,,..

Bruce, I have read many of your posts and I do admire your thoughts and I like your style of farming, small family run, but I am not to sure that I can support your contention that COOL did much damage to Canadian farmers.
I live in Ny state just a few miles from the US/Canadian border and what we see here are loaded trucks pouring out of Canada into the US. What is seldom seen is a loaded truck going into Canada. For anyone to say that Canada is the USA"s biggest trading partner is like me to say that Walmart is my biggest trading partner. After all, I buy a lot of goods from them but they never buy from me!

Bruce I do not want to type LOUDLY because I would never want to scream or argue.
But I do like having a discussion with people that have different points of view.

I for one like COOL. Think it should be used for every item we buy.
If it cost you extra to put that small label on the package then charge me.
While I buy a lot of things made outside the US because it is the only choice or the US stuff is way overpriced I do like having that choice.

So maybe you can explain to me how putting this label on a box is hurting you or how it does not live up to NAFTA.

Because the way I see this is.............
The people in the US choose to buy meat produced in the US
Not because your product is inferior but because we like our meat better.
So we ask that you put a label on the package that tells us it is imported.
So Canada takes us to court and sues us over this policy.
How is that not saying my dog is bigger than your dog.

My wife and I always look to see where the store bought food comes from. Even the dog and cat food.
WE WILL be growing more things on our place now.
I guess I will have to fence in part of a hay field now and raise a few steers. I don't mind seeing Canada or Mexico on a label, but don't take away my right to see where my food comes from. We should not be bullied by anyone.
Richard, MAD in NW SC

need to get rid of FEMA biggest money wasting org the gov has got, what a waste of tax payers money!

Way to go, Bruce!! I agree 110 % If the citizens of a country have a problem with their government honouring international trade agreements, then vote them out. Otherwise, suck it up, buttercup, and have some respect for those with whom you do business. You wouldn't sell a tractor to your neighbour, and then ask to change the transaction after the deal, would you.

Ben

Not many can make it on a small Farm now days. small is only relative any way. I farmed 700 acres for many years, could not by any new machinery on that small of farm i live in eastern SD i was one of the smallest farms in the county

Bruce I would have zero problem with anything imported from Canada BUT I have a hard time with anything imported from third world countries like Mexico. Your smoking something if you think Mexico has the same quality of cleanliness as the US and Canada. Personally meat that had flies all over it is not what I want to eat. Read some of the recent articles on how Thailand is the largest exporter of pealed shrimp and the human SLAVES that do a lot of the pealing.

I am all for locking down the boarders, totally. In the long term the average person in the US would be better off. When we had strong tariffs protecting the internal businesses the average person had a much better wage in relation to the rich. Trade deals like NAFTA hurt the US and Canada workers. I would bet that there are few things made in Canadian factories anymore. The one I personally know is the JD Welland plant. All the products that where made there are made in Mexico now. You want a JD loader for your JD tractor, it is made in Mexico. Also the tillage equipment made in Ames got much of the heavy production moved to Mexico. If you buy a JD tillage tool now you had better look hard at the frames. On just about 100% of them I can find BAD welds and bad paint.

Myself I wanted COOL on everything!!!!! This is really true on major brands of equipment. I know where most of the JD stuff is made. I know that a 5000M series tractor is made in Georgia and a 5000E is made in Mexico or India but some of the 6000 series M,R,S series I can,t tell you where they are made. On the Agco and CNH stuff I have little clue where it all is made.

We are at WAR with China!!!! It is just not a shooting war it is a war on our economy. Think of how many products that are not made in the US anymore period!!!!! It can be the smallest little thing. An example is a toggle switch. I need some that are rated for 20 amps and moisture proof. Every single one I could find was made in Asia with most from China. In the application I am using them in they last less than six months. I tried ordering them from US companies too like Grainger and they all where not US made.

To me all the international "free trade" agreements just lower the US wage/standard of living, to the level of the third world nations that have the cheaper wages and lower standards of living. The only people that benefit are the mega rich and the multinational corporations. I know it would wreck the current economy but in the long run I think the average Joe would be better off with more closed borders. There are 300 plus million people in the US. Make a widget that everyone of them use and need and you can make enough money.

I also can do without grapes in January too and other stuff out of season. We did that for centuries. It is just now that we seem to want fresh produce 365 days each year. To do this you have imports from places that are really different from this country. How many get sick form contaminated food each year??? It seems like most of the major outbreaks are form imported food stuffs.

I know farm products are sold around the world but at what price???? Other than grains most other products are used internally in the US. With most of the production used domestically. When like 25% of the beef is exported why does the export price set the domestic price???? It is because we have let the meat industry be consolidated to 3-4 companies and they know the export price is cheaper than the domestic price would be. I would gladly plant less corn and soybeans. Then maybe plant crops that are better in rotations like we did before we where told we needed to "Feed the World". I say the heck with the WORLD!!!!!! Let them raise their own food. We all would be better off.

It might help regulate the crazies too. The main exporters of terrorism import the majority of their food. Let them raise all their own food and maybe the nut jobs would have to WORK at home rather than have time to do crazy stuff. I know all the dairy farmers I know work long and hard. I would bet that their kids would have little time to go do crazy stuff.

Well now, I see the scrapping of country of origin labeling has touched a nerve here. Now people will be buying food from foreign countries. I say, why not. Everyone seems to be happy buying everything else from other countries and leaving the American work force without jobs. Now the American farmer will have a little competition. The country of origin labeling movement was started in support of this countries farmers. Believe it or not, there are people in this country who care whether or not their food was produced buy farmers in this country. Well, now there can be a flood of cheaper food coming here further lowering the price of American produced food. I hope you're all happy. You all just keep wanting cheap products from other countries, and the rest of the people will buy cheap food from farmers in other countries. Seems fair to me.

(quoted from post at 13:08:46 12/20/15) that's exactly what can happen too , Washington opened the door to terrorist on a much higher scale , we have every rite to know where our food comes from , from the city , processer,. rite down to the farm ////..this congress runs a very close 2nd to the worst prez in history ,... other congresses would have tried him for treason ,found him guilty and jailed him ,, also the former 1stlady would be removed from all public office for life because of her derilect of duty in the bengazi affair ,,..

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And you think a person like nnalert will be our savior? Being President of this country is a tough job. There are a lot of people who expect a lot of things. But guess what? Not everyone can have everything their way. When listening to politicians campaign for the presidency of this country, and they say they can cure all our countries ills, don't believe it. It can't be done.

I believe everything should be labeled, in or out.

I looked the bill up, it was a bipartisan bill, wonder what their goal was.

In response to John in La

"So maybe you can explain to me how putting this label on a box is hurting you or how it does not live up to NAFTA".




Putting a label on a box coming from this side of the border is not the cause of the issue.
The problem was US self inflicted by lack of thinking through the process and what it would cost to implement.
For a US processing plant to meet the requirements of your own rules, meat from another country has to be kept separate during processing then labeled before going out for distribution.
Lets say you run a plant that processes 1500 head of cattle a day, from slaughtering to cooling to cutting this takes several days.
So obviously if you have to shut down do a plant clean up then do a separate production cycle for a run of imported beef you have added costs and your bottom line is affected.
Unless you can purchase this imported beef at a huge discount it does not make economic sense to bother with.
As a result you quit processing imported beef of if you continue you have to purchase at a discount to cover your additional costs.
This is how cool affects the price paid for Canadian cattle.
I am all for knowing where things come from but making a rule that applies to everything has its draw backs.
If you don't want to buy beef from Canada, shrimp from Asia or dog food from China that is fine but a better system to identify a product that does not cause what amounts to the equivalent of an import tariff needs to be developed.
We would gladly brand cattle with Proudly Raised in Canada, but the way I see it the additional costs that are hindering trade are coming from the USA side of the table.

I like this idea. I have actually seen a few things labeled like this; Chinese Pride I guess. I bought some brake lines (hoses) from the local independent parts guy that were something like "Sing Song Hose" or something like that. DOT numbers and looked like good quality crimp and machining.

WOTUS is a time bomb that has far reaching implications. Needs to be gone ASAP! I find it hard to believe how far it's gotten. They're trying to quietly sneak it through.

as the saying goes "resistance is futile" since companies substitute american produced foodstuffs for chinese produced items and the unwary comnsumer needs to scrutinize every label if in fact the labeling is even honest.

JDseller I couldn't agree with you more. Anyways about all the trade agreement from Kubota bruce about dumping our farm products on foreign markets I call you know what. We have a massive trade deficit with mexico AND Canada not to mention even worse trade deficit with china and japan!so WHO is dumping their crap in what foreign market?

greenenvy, I was about to wright the same thing as you. I might add that their are many people who don't have space to raise their own food. But they all have access to farmers markets. Buy from a local vender and you know where it is coming from. I sell farm fresh eggs in a roadside stand year around. Eggs come from the hen house about 150 ft. away. Don't believe the eggs are produced in this country? Ask me and I will take you in the hen house and you can gather them yourself. Understand that I will have to charge you more for gathering them yourself as I will have to stop my other farm work to come and show you where. I also sell hogs on the hoof to customers. I will deliver them to the butcher shop. They originate right here on the farm. I do not have a "cool" label on my things but you should know they come off this farm. Just like you know if you buy fresh strawberries in January they are not from this country. Mankind existed for hundreds of thousands of years on food produced (gathered) locally. Should be able to do it again if it matters to you.

(quoted from post at 08:20:25 12/20/15)
Well now, I see the scrapping of country of origin labeling has touched a nerve here. Now people will be buying food from foreign countries. I say, why not. Everyone seems to be happy buying everything else from other countries and leaving the American work force without jobs. Now the American farmer will have a little competition. The country of origin labeling movement was started in support of this countries farmers. Believe it or not, there are people in this country who care whether or not their food was produced buy farmers in this country. Well, now there can be a flood of cheaper food coming here further lowering the price of American produced food. I hope you're all happy. You all just keep wanting cheap products from other countries, and the rest of the people will buy cheap food from farmers in other countries. Seems fair to me.

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You really think that people are going to jump on this and only buy American? Not when it's there money they aren't. Well lets see. I want a new TV. Which one is made in America out of entirely US made parts? I want a new compact tractor. Which one is made in the USA out of only US made parts. Oh and I forgot. Who's going to give me a pay raise to afford only US made goods? And don't jump me. I try to buy American made products when I can.

I do agree with you on nnalert. How can a man who bankrupted 4 different companies because he couldn't fix them fix the USA. To me he's just a big windbag.

Rick

Well I never could see where very much was ever labeled anyhow ? Food items just say something like Packaged for Walmart Or Aldi's etc. Never said who or where it was packaged !

Canada exports to the USA as much as it imports, within a few billion, each year. It's about as fair as it gets. Do you want it that you can export 300 billion worth of goods to Canada, but we can't export anything back to you. Does that come across as fair to you?

Im not worried about Canada. I am concerned about food processed in dirty facilities or adulterated with stuff like Melanine or treated with pesticides we are not allowed to use, or handled by people who have TB and dont use TP. California Avocadoes this year tasted great, and the Chilean avos were very bland. I want to know where it came from when I shop.
I like to buy American when possible, and dont want to buy Chinese stuff at all.

Well when you shop at the bottom of the barrel stores, ie Aldi and Walmart you not gonna find cool labeling! The chicken I buy says hatched, raised an harvested in USA. These cans are labeled.

I cannot say for sure what rules are for product of U.S.A., but there are some definite loopholes here with product of Canada labels. Best example would be a can of Del Monte pineapple we bought recently. It said product of Canada on the can. Well we can no more grow pineapple here than you can in NY.state. But because the pineapple in the can is shipped in bulk to Canada , and then packaged and labeled here , there is more cost in the package than there is in the fruit. Therefore the main cost of the finished product is born out in Canada , they are allowed to call it a product of Canada. Wacky or what? I have wondered if the can you show in the picture might have a similar regulation which could allow the product in the can to come from any where , but be packaged only in the U.S.. I trust the farmers in the U.S. and Can. ,but I do not have a lot of trust in the processors not to take full advantage of any and all loopholes they can find.

I agree Bruce, we have a thing here in NY called pride of NY for ag products, well I found a farm can get eggs from anywhere but NY, package them here and boast pride of NY on the package? Why? Just because it was packaged here?
I really hate to get into this one, but we also have NY breds for thoroughbreds it's great for NY racing and NY owners, what I thought is odd, is you can breed your mare to a Kentucky stallion or any other state stallion bring mare back to NY to foal and register as a NY bred? I would think you could only bread your mare to a NY stallion stay in NY and then it would be a NY bred? I guess they go by we're the mare drops the foal! Lol