Two reports published by the European Commission concluded that the requirements of the new standards which are required to report on the origin labeling of meat have not taken into account the costs of this information. Given this, they consider that it would be appropriate that such information was voluntary and not mandatory.
One such report specifically refers to cases where the meat is one of the fundamental ingredients of a processed food. According to the Commission, consumers demand this type of information but less in the case of foods such as meat, meat products and dairy products.
It is also discussed in the report and beneficial cost of labeling rules, including its potential impact on the domestic market and international trade. Thus it concludes that the voluntary labeling system is the best solution when combined with existing information systems mandatory labeling for certain categories.
On the other hand, labeling the origin of meat in the US, known as COOL for its acronym in English, it has not gone well stopped in a report just released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). The report notes that the COOL generated no measurable benefit to the consumer. Demand for beef or pork has not increased by the COOL. By contrast, the report notes that farmers, industry, distribution and consumption have been hurt by this system. The cost of implementing the COOL, just in beef and in its first year of implementation was 405 million euros. Consumers were harmed by having to support higher prices in the linear and less supply.
