CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Legislators in Wyoming recently introduced HB 198, a bill that would require country of origin labeling for beef produced in the United States.

The bill was amended to read: “Every retailer and every wholesaler who sells or offers for sale in this state through an establishment or otherwise any beef which is the product of the United States shall clearly label the beef as a product of the United States of America.”

Previously, the bill included language requiring labels on meat “which is the product of any country foreign to the United States,” to be clearly labeled as “… “imported,” naming the country of its origin.

If passed, the law would go into force on July 1, 2017. The bill is sponsored by Reps. Hans Hunt, Stan Blake, Jamie Flitner, Mike Gierau, Dan Laursen and David Northrup and Sen. Leland Christensen.

The Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization ruled at least four times that federal country of origin labeling laws in the United States violated the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement because the law gave less than favorable treatment to imported livestock than to similar products of US origin. Congress later repealed COOL.