Senate Concurrent Resolution 13

PAG LIN

  1  1          SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO.    
  1  2                       BY  HOUSER
  1  3 A Concurrent Resolution urging the United States
  1  4    Congress to hold hearings to investigate the impact of
  1  5    mandatory country of origin labeling regulations and
  1  6    to delay the date of compliance with the law.
  1  7    WHEREAS, On May 13, 2002, the federal Farm Security
  1  8 and Rural Investment Act of 2002, more commonly known
  1  9 as the 2002 Farm Bill (Pub. L. No. 107=171) was
  1 10 enacted into law; and
  1 11    WHEREAS, one of the many initiatives of the 2002
  1 12 Farm Bill requires country of origin labeling for
  1 13 agricultural commodities including but not limited to
  1 14 beef, pork, and lamb, to be administered by the
  1 15 Agricultural Marketing Service of the United States
  1 16 Department of Agriculture; and
  1 17    WHEREAS, many Iowa livestock producers have serious
  1 18 concerns about mandatory country of origin labeling
  1 19 regulations which have arisen since the enactment of
  1 20 the 2002 Farm Bill; and
  1 21    WHEREAS, there is an increasing recognition of many
  1 22 potentially adverse impacts of mandatory country of
  1 23 origin labeling regulations, including but not limited
  1 24 to serious issues associated with costs versus
  1 25 benefits; tracking, auditing, and verifying perishable
  1 26 products; and compliance; and
  1 27    WHEREAS, both the Iowa cattlemen's association and
  1 28 the national cattlemen's beef association do not
  1 29 support a mandatory country of origin labeling system,
  1 30 but remain supportive of a program that is voluntary
  2  1 and industry=driven; NOW THEREFORE,
  2  2    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, THE HOUSE OF
  2  3 REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, That the United States
  2  4 Congress is urged to hold hearings to investigate the
  2  5 impact of mandatory country of origin labeling
  2  6 regulations and to delay the date of compliance with
  2  7 the law until the impact of the law has been
  2  8 thoroughly studied and producers have been educated
  2  9 about the responsibilities under any new labeling
  2 10 system; and
  2 11    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this
  2 12 Resolution be sent by the Secretary of the Senate to
  2 13 Iowa's congressional delegation; and
  2 14    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this
  2 15 Resolution be sent to the President of the Senate of
  2 16 the United States; the Speaker of the House of
  2 17 Representatives of the United States; the Chair of the
  2 18 United States Senate Committee on Agriculture,
  2 19 Nutrition, and Forestry; and the Chair of the United
  2 20 States House of Representatives Committee on
  2 21 Agriculture.
  2 22 LSB 3117SS 80
  2 23 da/sh/8.1