Snow-covered cattle graze in a field near Powell last month. Numerous American ranchers and farmers believe beef and pork sold in the U.S. should have mandatory country of origin labeling.

Tribune photo by Mark Davis

As a cattle rancher and semi-retired veterinarian in Clark, I believe the United States must restore mandatory country of origin labeling of beef and pork.

After seeing other countries’ operations firsthand, I recognize the importance of truly knowing where your meat comes from and whether it was raised in the U.S.

In 1962, I was drafted into the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps. I was sent to an Army school to learn to inspect food and establishments producing food items for the military. My first duty station was Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I inspected food producing establishments all over Tennessee and Kentucky that were selling items to the U.S. Military.

All of my inspections were unannounced so I could observe the normal routine operation.

In 1964, I applied for an open position in Special Forces at the U.S. Army JFK Center for Special Warfare at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as the staff veterinarian in the surgeon’s office. I received orders for that position and after parachute school and other courses that were required to qualify as a Special Forces officer, I assumed that position.

In 1965, I transferred to the 8th Special Forces Group in Panama as the group veterinarian. I have been in every country between the U.S. and Panama.

Based upon my experience in the countries south of our border, I have very little confidence in the integrity of the food inspection in these foreign countries. I don’t think there are very many unannounced visits or inspections; everyone knows in advance and is prepared.

Scandal runs deep in the Brazilian meat packing industry. JBS SA and Marfig Global Foods, the world’s top two meat processors, have each been involved in multiple bribery schemes. Brazil’s bad rap goes beyond bribery scandals.

The USDA banned importation of Brazilian beef in 2017 due to “recurring concerns about the safety of the products intended for the American market. In spite of all this, it is currently legal to keep secret what country our beef and pork comes from!

What a great deal for the meat packing industry: Buy cheap foreign beef, re-label it American product and sell it to the unsuspecting American consumer at a higher price.

It’s pretty hard to buy American, if meat from foreign countries can be labeled American. This is simply unfair and in some cases unsafe for the American consumer.

Beef and pork sold in the U.S. should have mandatory country of origin labeling so the consumer has the choice to buy American beef, even at a higher price, or foreign beef, because of preference or price.

I am fully aware that President Trump has been browbeaten by the multinational beef importing lobby into believing that Congress cannot reinstate a Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (M-COOL) law for beef because of the pending threat of retaliatory tariffs approved by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

This is absolutely false. The World Trade Organization’s sanctions can only apply if Congress re-enacts the “same” M-COOL law that the World Trade Organization considered from 2009 through 2015.

Congress is absolutely free to exercise its constitutional right to pass a new M-COOL law for beef, particularly one that does not contain the same requirements as the one passed in 2002 and amended in 2008.

Restoring M-COOL for beef will enable U.S. cattle producers to engage in marketing and promotional activities intended to increase demand for their cattle that are exclusively born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States. We do not live in a world where the major meatpackers share this desire to increase demand for domestic cattle, because profits are much greater, selling cheaper foreign meat at American prices and that is why they fight so vehemently to prevent Congress from reinstating M-COOL for beef.

Rather than helping, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is taking steps to accelerate the exodus of cattle producers in the U.S. His recent announcements to allow fresh beef imports from Brazil and Namibia will do just that. His own economic analysis shows U.S. ranchers will be hardest hit to the tune of $143 million. His own reports show Brazil subsidizes its cattle production to the tune of $1.2 billion.

The secretary is fully aware that the most contagious disease known to cattle — foot and mouth disease —  is endemic in both Brazil and Namibia.

At the very least, Congress should give America’s cattle producers the opportunity to begin competing against the ever-increasing volumes of cheaper, undifferentiated imported beef and cattle. This can only be accomplished by passing a new M-COOL law for beef and I am asking President Trump to do just that.

(Dr. Donald G. Tolman graduated from veterinary school in 1960. He now resides in Clark. Tolman wrote this as a letter sent to President Donald Trump earlier this month.)