Today, mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) of retail meat takes effect in the US after years of debate.
Approx. 36,000 grocery stores are now required to label beef, pork, lamb and chicken products, as well as fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, macadamia nuts, pecans, ginseng and peanuts.
Retailers are now required to keep records verifying country of origin claims for 1 year from the sale of products. In turn, suppliers of covered commodities must possess or have access to records as well. This implies that meat packers will require all slaughter livestock to be accompanied by producer affidavits.