Key Takeaways:

Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling would provide consumers with more consistent information about where their beef originates, but evidence from the previous COOL rule found little indication that labeling increased overall consumer demand for beef. The primary potential benefit to U.S. cattle producers may instead come from shifting existing demand toward domestic cattle, as the additional tracking and segregation required for foreign-origin cattle can make them more costly for packers to handle. Voluntary U.S.-origin labeling allows producers and processors to differentiate domestic beef for consumers who value its origin without imposing COOL requirements across the entire supply chain, although it provides less consist...