WASHINGTON — Representative Dusty Johnson (R-SD) is looking to reinstate mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL) for beef products with the introduction of the Beef Origin Labeling Accountability Act.

“Consumers don’t know where their beef comes from,” Johnson said. “It could be South Dakota, Brazil or Canada. US producers raise better beef, and they’re not getting the credit for it. My bill takes a step in the right direction to get accurate labels back on these products to increase consumer confidence in American-made and grown products.”

The proposed legislation would reinstate MCOOL for beef in a process compliant with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) would collaborate to direct this process. The two agencies would report their recommendations for enforcing MCOOL to Congress.

Furthermore, USTR would resolve any outstanding MCOOL trade disputes with the Canadian and Mexican governments that the countries have against the United States.

MCOOL was initially implemented in 2008 with the Farm Bill. Following its introduction, Canada and Mexico filed a dispute with the WTO, alleging the origin claims were a violation of WTO agreements. As a result, WTO authorized over $1 billion in tariffs against US products from Canada and Mexico.

Congress repealed MCOOL in 2015.

While the WTO cases between the United States and Canada and Mexico remain open today, Johnson hopes to settle the disputes to reinstate MCOOL in the United States.

Johnson is one of several legislators seeking to promote country of origin labeling. Other proposed MCOOL rules include the Country of Origin Labeling Enforcement Act, the American Beef Labeling Act and a “Product of USA” label claim rule from the USDA.