Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HR1702 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R20916 BPG-D
2	2	By: Lucio III H.R. No. 1702
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5	5	R E S O L U T I O N
6	6	WHEREAS, The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002,
7	7	more commonly known as the 2002 Farm Bill, included provisions
8	8	requiring country of origin labeling (COOL) for beef, lamb, pork,
9	9	fish, perishable agricultural commodities, and peanuts; and
10	10	WHEREAS, In response to widespread controversy, the United
11	11	States Congress agreed to delay full mandatory implementation of
12	12	COOL; although labeling requirements under a final rule are taking
13	13	effect on March 16, 2009, agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack has
14	14	called for voluntary compliance under stricter guidelines, warning
15	15	of a possible tightening of regulations at a later time; and
16	16	WHEREAS, The United States Department of Agriculture has
17	17	estimated that incremental costs of compliance with the final rule
18	18	will reach $2.6 billion in the first year for growers, producers,
19	19	processors, wholesalers, and retailers; in the 10th year after
20	20	implementation, the estimated cost to the United States economy
21	21	would be more than $211 million in higher food prices and reduced
22	22	food production; meanwhile, the USDA has concluded that economic
23	23	benefits associated with COOL implementation are likely to be
24	24	small; and
25	25	WHEREAS, Current evidence does not suggest that consumers are
26	26	willing to pay a premium price for food items bearing the United
27	27	States origin label, or that United States producers will be able to
28	28	recoup costs associated with COOL compliance through higher prices;
29	29	and
30	30	WHEREAS, COOL is a marketing program, not a food safety
31	31	measure, as evidenced by the fact that it is administered by the
32	32	Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the USDA rather than its
33	33	Food Safety and Inspection Service or Animal and Plant Health
34	34	Inspection Service; and
35	35	WHEREAS, COOL regulations are extremely burdensome for the
36	36	cattle industry; cattle are not considered a covered commodity
37	37	under COOL regulations, but producers are obligated to provide
38	38	origin information in order for retailers to verify the origin of
39	39	meat; cattle are often bought and sold several times and move
40	40	through a complex and diverse set of stocker and feedlot production
41	41	systems involving a high degree of sorting and commingling, which
42	42	increases the difficulty of tracking domestic and imported cattle;
43	43	and
44	44	WHEREAS, Mexico and Canada, the top two export markets for
45	45	U.S. beef, have both filed complaints against COOL provisions with
46	46	the World Trade Organization; in December 2008, Mexico briefly
47	47	banned imports from 30 U.S. meat plants in a move widely considered
48	48	to be a protest against COOL, which drove cattle futures sharply
49	49	lower at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; and
50	50	WHEREAS, Texas leads the nation in cattle production; the
51	51	industry contributes as much as $16 billion annually to the state
52	52	economy, and it is vitally important that normal trade relations
53	53	continue with key beef export markets; the COOL provisions are
54	54	harmful both to trade relations and to the overall economic
55	55	viability of the cattle industry as well as to consumers, who can
56	56	expect to see prices rise as a result of higher production costs;
57	57	now, therefore, be it
58	58	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
59	59	Legislature hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to
60	60	repeal mandatory country of origin labeling provisions from federal
61	61	law as soon as practicable; and, be it further
62	62	RESOLVED, That the chief clerk of the Texas House of
63	63	Representatives forward official copies of this resolution to the
64	64	president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of
65	65	representatives and the president of the senate of the United
66	66	States Congress, to the secretary of agriculture, and to all the
67	67	members of the Texas delegation to the Congress with the request
68	68	that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional
69	69	Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of
70	70	America.