Logan, Wise Lobby in D.C. to Preserve COOL
Joe Logan and Roger Wise are no strangers to the ongoing struggle in Washington, D.C. and Geneva, Switzerland over whether U.S. consumers have a right to know where their food comes from.
The pair are Ohio farmers but they are also the current president of the Ohio Farmers Union (Logan) and the immediate past-president (Wise). Since 2009, Country of Origin Labeling – “COOL” in agricultural circles – has been a recurring policy consideration for each.
COOL is a rule in the 2002 U.S. Farm Bill that mandates retailers provide country of origin labeling for beef, pork and lamb. In 2008, Congress expanded the labeling law to include some other products such as fresh fruits and nuts.
In 2009, the first challenge to COOL came from the Canadian government via the World Trade Organization. While Canada – and subsequently Mexico – have claimed that U.S. COOL rules have cost foreign producers, there is scant economic evidence to support their claims.
There has been, however, a sea change in ownership of U.S. meat interests. The primary owner of U.S. pork interests is now Shuanghui of China. JBS of Brazil is now the largest meat processing company in the United States. Both China and Brazil have issues regarding food safety.
“Yesterday’s WTO decision is an insult to all who wish to have information about the food they consume and an affront to our nation’s ability to adopt legislation that is strongly supported by US Farmers and consumers,” said Logan
“Once again, the Farmers Union will be leading the charge to defend COOL on behalf of farmers and consumers,” Logan said.
National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson is asking lawmakers to allow U.S. trade representatives to work things out with Mexico and Canada.
Johnson pointed out that there have been various press reports in recent weeks indicating that the administration will work with Canada and Mexico on COOL.
“We support that approach to the extent it results in a mutually agreed result that provides consumers meaningful information on the meat products they purchase, including the country where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered. With the significant interest by consumers in knowing where their food comes from, any other result is not acceptable,” Johnson said.
Logan, of Trumbull County, and Wise, of Sandusky County, have a full slate of meetings on Capitol Hill with members of Congress over the next two days. They are part of an NFU group of more than 60 Farmers Union leaders from around the country.
“Our primary message to Congress at this point is leave COOL alone,” said Wise.
“There is precedent for U.S. and international officials to work out their differences rather than scrap a U.S. law and start completely over,” he added.
NFU Urges Support for Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson today encouraged Congress to reauthorize the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act — an important tool in combatting problems caused by high concentration and vertical integration in livestock markets — and offered suggestions for making the price reporting data a more effective and usable tool for family farmers and ranchers.
“Price reporting is an important tool in addressing the market failures caused by the high levels of concentration in livestock markets,” said Johnson in a letter to Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. “NFU encourages the Senate to review and reauthorize the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act in an open and transparent process.”
Johnson offered a series of suggestions for improving cattle reporting in order to capture more transactions and ensure the data is more accurate and usable. Those suggestions include:
- Data omitted from public reports due to the confidentiality rule (3/70/20 confidentiality guideline) should be aggregated both weekly and regionally.
- Clarify reporting definitions for cattle such that it is consistent with country-of-origin-labeling. Mandatory Price Reporting (MPR) data considers cattle to be of domestic origin even if they are imported, so long as they spend some time in U.S. feedlots. A recent report by Dr. Bob Taylor of Auburn University found this loophole resulted in roughly one million cattle per year failing to show up in MPR data, while showing up in trade statistics.
- Require weekly reporting of market concentration through the use of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) for both captive supplies and cash transactions. This should be reported both regionally and nationally.
- Improve usability of the MPR Dashboard and Data Mart, including prominent display of definitions for reports, weekly histograms with the day of the week for negotiated sales, and graphs showing the thinness of the cash market by day.
- Separate the data for forward contracts from those tied to the futures market.
Johnson noted that the latest estimate for the four-firm concentration ratio (CR4) in beef indicates that the top four meatpackers control 85 percent of the market share – a serious competition issue reflected across the U.S. livestock industries.
Johnson Makes Case for COOL
National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson argued recently in Agri-Pulse that regardless of the upcoming announcement from the World Trade Organization (WTO) on America’s popular labeling law – Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) – Congress needs to let the WTO process run its course.
“The announcement from the WTO on this lawsuit is due in just weeks, and we may win. If not, it can still be brought to arbitration. And that’s why it’s important that Congress refrain from making any changes to the popular labeling law until this process has run its course,” notes Johnson in Agri-Pulse. “To do otherwise would not only be unprecedented in U.S. history, but would also be a disservice to consumers who support COOL by a margin of 90 percent, according to decade’s worth of polling.”
Johnson notes that the food labeling movement is no longer confined to the U.S., but now includes the European Union as well. “A few years ago European politicians got an earful when their constituents learned that they were walking around with a stomachful ¾ of horsemeat. Meat from horses labeled as beef was being imported into the European Union (EU), and since strict labeling laws were not in place in one of the world’s most lucrative markets, consumers were tricked into eating something very different than they thought,” he notes.
Johnson notes the next step in the arbitration process, should the WTO rule against America’s consumers and producers in May, is that Canada and Mexico can retaliate against U.S. But the level of retaliation can be subject to arbitration, if requested by the U.S. The level of arbitration is limited to the adverse effects on Canadian and Mexican exports to the U.S.
“Proving COOL has caused economic harm is going to be no small feat for Canada, given the recent study out of Auburn University that found it was the economic collapse of 2008 – not COOL – that caused a dip in Canadian exports to the U.S.,” he notes.
NFU: Clean Re-authorization of Grain Standards Act Needed from U.S. Senate
National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson this week urged the Senate to pass a clean reauthorization of the U.S. Grain Standards Act, calling the current system “the world’s gold standard.”
“Today’s framework, overseen by the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS), is the world’s gold standard and our export partners have faith in that standard,” said Johnson in a letter to Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. “For a penny a bushel we have a cost-effective system that ensures consistency, reliability and accuracy. Our members have faith in the current system and as such request a clean reauthorization of the Grain Standards Act for a period of no less than 10 years.”
Johnson highlighted the continued drive towards privatization of the U.S. grain inspection system, a move that would weaken the strong reputation of U.S. exporters.
“The most concerning issue for our members is the continued drive towards the privatization of our grain inspection system,” said Johnson. “This nation’s trading partners trust the existing system, and changes to this system that result in inspections being conducted by entities other than the federal government or a delegated state agency would diminish the trust that has taken decades to build.” [Read more…]
May 6: Call President Obama – Ask Him to Stand Up For COOL
Ohio Farmers Union Members:
National Farmers Union, in partnership with a coalition of other groups, has organized a White House call in day. We’d like to flood the White House with as many calls as possible. Please call President Obama at 888-793-4597 tomorrow, Wednesday, May 6. Please send this along to all members/contacts/friends/family.
- Call the White House at 888-793-4597
- When you are connected, tell the person who answers:
Hi, my name is _______ and I’m from ______. I urge President Obama to stand up for my right to know where my food comes from by protecting country of origin labels.
That’s it! The whole process should take no more than 60 seconds. The White House tracks every call they get on an issue, so volume of calls matters.
Thanks for your help and continuing concern for public policies that benefit Ohio’s family farmers and consumers.
Farmers Union Membership Urged to Voice Fast Track Trade Authority Opposition
A message from the National Farmers Union is alerting all members that legislation is before Congress to grant President Barack Obama ‘fast-track’ trade authority. Both the National and Ohio Farmers Union have come out against fast track authority for any president.
“We oppose fast-track negotiating authority for the president,” said NFU President Roger Johnson earlier this year.
“Trade agreements must be a fair deal for all parties – farmers, workers, and consumers, both in the United States and abroad. Previous trade deals haven’t lived up to this standard, so Congress should have full opportunity to review and amend provisions of a trade agreement, consistent with the U.S. Constitution,” Johnson said.
The Ohio Farmers Union passed a ‘special order of business’ at its annual convention in January coming out against fast track authority. From our special order on trade concerns:
The Ohio Farmers Union opposes congressional passage of so-called Trade PromotionAuthority, also known as “Fast Track” trade authority. Fast Track allows for executive branch negotiation of trade agreements and constrains Congress to a simple, up and down vote on the entire agreement with no chance for amendments. The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the “power … to regulate commerce with foreign nations.” Congress should not relinquish this authority and push the multitude of economic and human rights issues inherent in today’s trade agreements further away from being influenced by the American people through their representatives to Congress.
And, here’s what the NFU Action Alert has to say:
Congress has just introduced Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation. This bill will all but ensure that the Trans-Pacific Partnership would go through. It hands over the Constitutional authority of Congress to review trade agreements to the President. Many members of Congress have yet to declare their position on TPA. They need to hear from their constituents, like you, that TPA is the wrong course for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.
Promises of expanded trade benefiting U.S. farmers and rural communities have been made during the debates for NAFTA, CAFTA, and the U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreements and now the Trans-Pacific Partnership. These benefits have failed to materialize. Instead, rural communities have been roiled by profound economic instability. The trade deficit was $505 billion in 2014, a full 3 percent drag on our nation’s GDP.
Even agriculture, which typically has a surplus in trade, has suffered the consequences of free trade. On the three year anniversary of the U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement, agricultural exports to Korea have stagnated, growing an estimated zero percent, yet agricultural imports from Korea have increased 28 percent under the free trade agreement.
Because of the secrecy of the negotiating process, it is impossible to know whether domestic laws such as Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) and other policies to strengthen rural economies, including vital reforms that would reduce our existing trade deficit, are being traded away.
We urge lawmakers to reject fast track and ensure all future trade agreements address the substantial trade deficit.
Do you agree? Let your representatives know! Find your Representative(s) here and your Senators here.
NFU Explains Opposition to Federal Estate Tax Repeal
National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson opposed Thursday’s action in the U.S. House of Representatives that would repeal the estate tax, stating the move would place a larger tax burden on American family farmers and ranchers.
“Repeal of the estate tax puts a larger tax burden on those that are currently exempted from the tax,” said Johnson. “Over 99 percent of small farms do not face the tax, as estates under $5.43 million, $10.86 million for couples, are exempted from it. As a result, NFU opposes completely eliminating the tax.
Johnson noted that Congress has repeatedly decreased the tax rate and increased the exemptions, making it increasingly unlikely for family farms to face the tax.
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that only 0.6 percent of farms have to pay an estate tax, and that another 2.1 percent would have to file returns but would not owe any taxes,” said Johnson. “It is not the estate tax that hurts family farmers. It is repealing the tax that would give them an increased share of the overall tax load.”
Johnson also noted that the move would add to the nation’s debt. “The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that repealing the estate tax without offsetting revenue or spending will increase the deficit by $269 billion over 10 years. This drag on the U.S. economy will bring rural America down with it.”
Ohio Dept of Ag Accepting Specialty Crop Grant Proposals
The Ohio Department of Agriculture is now accepting proposals for the 2015 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, which will provide funding for projects to enhance the competitiveness of crops such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and nursery crops.
Grant funding is provided by the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service. The deadline for online grant proposal submissions is June 1, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. Grants will range from a minimum of $25,000 to a maximum of $150,000. In addition, all applicants must provide a minimum match of 25 percent of the requested grant amount.
Project proposals are sought that will advance the long-term economic viability of the state’s specialty crop industry while increasing the marketability of specialty crops. Higher rankings will be given to projects that demonstrate profit potential for growers and that could boost employment opportunities in the specialty crop industry.
Food and agricultural non-profit organizations, cooperatives, associations or commodity groups, universities and research institutions are eligible to submit specialty crop proposals.
For more information, available forms, or a copy of the request for proposals, visit the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s website at: http://www.agri.ohio.gov/Grants/Grants.aspx.
National Farmers Union: Mandatory GMO Labeling Must Be Part of New Legislation
WASHINGTON – National Farmers Union delegates recently reiterated their support for the mandatory federal labeling of food products containing GMO traits at its annual convention. As such, NFU opposes the voluntary standard set out in Congressman Pompeo’s, R-Kan., Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 (H.R. 1599).
“Consumers increasingly want to know more information about their food, not less,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “NFU policy supports mandatory labeling for food products throughout the processing chain, seeking to reduce consumer confusion and allowing producers to differentiate their products.”
Johnson noted that the bill has changed from the one introduced last Congress. “NFU appreciates Congressman Pompeo’s efforts to reduce consumer confusion and standardize a GMO label, but cannot support a bill that lacks mandatory labeling. We now call on Congress to bridge the numerous proposals that are currently pending for the benefit of producers and consumers.” said Johnson.
