It sounds far enough away — October 2008 — but the mandatory Country of Origin Labeling law for meat is just around the corner, and groups such as the Food Marketing Institute say the sooner a final ruling is issued, the better.

“Congress will get to work on the 2007 Farm Bill after spring recess, and that means they'll be starting the process on COOL,” John Motley, FMI's senior vice president of government and public affairs, told SN earlier this month. “Now is the time for everybody to be thinking about the modifications that are needed. We're developing our presentation for Congress right now.”

A preliminary ruling could be issued as early as late fall 2007, Motley said, giving the industry time to figure out how to implement the law when it becomes effective in 2008.

While Motley said he holds out little hope the law will be modified significantly, he emphasized the need to get as much information to Congress as possible before then, in hopes of easing some of the proposed law's more onerous requirements.

Under the requirements, as they are written now, a fine of up to $10,000 could be imposed on a retailer for infraction of COOL rules, Motley said. COOL, as it relates to meat, will also require retailers to know where an animal was born, raised, slaughtered and processed, and to label products accordingly.

By comparison, mandatory seafood labeling, which has been enforced since April 2005, has been relatively easy, Motley said.

First of all, he pointed out, less seafood than meat is sold in this country, and the “born, raised and harvested” requirement does not apply to seafood. What's more, seafood is not cut up into many pieces before being distributed around the country.

Knowing a steak's origin, back to the birth of the animal, presents a bigger challenge than pinpointing the origin of a shipment of cod or salmon, he said.

“Identifying where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered becomes particularly grueling when it comes down to hamburger,” Motley told SN. “AMI [the American Meat Institute] tells us we import meat from nine different countries and mix it with fatter U.S. beef to make hamburger.”