The House Agriculture Committee approved H.R. 2393, a bill to amend the Agriculture Marketing Act of 1946, by a recorded vote of 38-6. A combination of 68 Democrats and Republicans joined Chairman K. Michael Conaway in introducing this bipartisan bill that will effectively repeal country of origin labeling requirements for beef, pork, and chicken, while leaving intact the requirements for all other covered commodities. 

“This bill is a targeted response that will remove uncertainty and restore stability for the United States by bringing us back into compliance,” Chairman Conaway said. “We must do all we can to avoid retaliation by Canada and Mexico, and this bill accomplishes that through full repeal of labeling requirements for beef, pork, and chicken. I appreciate all the support from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. We will continue working to get this to the House floor as quickly as possible to ensure our economy and a vast range of U.S. industries and the men and women who work for them do not suffer any economic implications of retaliation.”  

“Working in a bipartisan manner is the only way to accomplish real change for our country. That is why I would like to thank my colleagues, from both sides of the aisle, for their support of H.R. 2393, a bill to repeal mandatory COOL requirements for beef, pork, and chicken products,” said Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee’s Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee.  “With the recent decision by the WTO, we must act rapidly to avoid serious trade barriers being enacted against U.S. agricultural products.  This is a good first step towards resolving this issue that has been hanging over the industry for years.” 

“H.R. 2393 represents a bipartisan effort to address serious trade retaliatory measures as a result of WTO’s ruling on Country of Origin Labeling (COOL).  I want to thank Chairman Conaway and Livestock Subcommittee Ranking Member Costa for their leadership on this issue,” said Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC) Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee.  

Click here for more information, including the text of the bill, Chairman Conaway's opening statement and the archived webcast.