A plan to have retailers pay for part of the costs of country-of-origin labeling is another attempt to derail the plan, leaders of several agricultural groups say.
"It's just USDA's way of trying to kill this thing again," Margaret Nachtigall, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, said. "It's not good news, but it's not surprising," she said.
The president's proposed 2009 budget calls for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to collect fees of $259 from each of about 37,000 retailers to pay for compliance reviews for mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat and other food products.
Sounds great, doesn't it? Make Wal-Mart and the local corner grocery store down the street pay the same price for forcing them to have a label on beef that it is a product of the US or not. I know I don't want to pay for COOL but charging the same amount to big retailers and super small retailers alike seems unfair too. I keep saying that COOL is going to be costly for all concerned. Even if the Government picks up all the costs, it will cost us, or our children, plenty of money. That's what people want though, that's what they are going to get, more costly meat.
How unfair the fate which ordains that those who have the least should be always adding to the treasury of the wealthy. Terence
