GROUPS OPPOSE COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN LABELS

JOANNA RAMEY

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- Supermarket lobbyists are fighting a congressional attempt to include in an upcoming farm bill a proposal to require country-of-origin labeling for produce at the point of sale.

The measure, H.R. 2602, sponsored by Rep. Sonny Bono, R-Calif., is the most recent of numerous attempts to push such a labeling requirement through Congress. It is one of a laundry list of agricultural proposals being championed for inclusion in a catch-all farm bill, which might surface after the first of the year.

Tim Hammonds, president and chief executive officer of the Food Marketing Institute here, wrote a letter to Tom Ewing, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Risk Management and Specialty Crops, opposing the inclusion of H.R. 2602 in the farm bill. Hammonds argued that a requirement for country-of-origin labeling would be a logistical nightmare for supermarkets.

"Retail grocers and their wholesalers would face an almost impossible task in trying to separate domestically produced items from imports and to separate imports from other imports," Hammonds said in the letter.

"The same bin may be used for many different commodities in the course of a two- to three-week period due to the quick turnaround of the perishable products. This means signs will have to be constantly changed and updated."

Bono, representing a big agricultural district, tried unsuccessfully to get such a labeling bill attached this fall to legislation amending the controversial Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. At that time, lawmakers representing constituents in the retail and wholesale food industries and produce importers were unwilling to entertain such an inclusion.

All nonmonetary agricultural issues were excluded from the most recent farm bill, part of the massive budget reconciliation package still being debated on Capitol Hill.

It's uncertain whether another farm bill covering the nonbudget issues, including country-of-origin produce labeling, will even surface when Congress returns from its Christmas recess, sources said.

A House Agriculture Committee staffer said lawmakers haven't had time to turn their attention to the Bono bill or other possible farm bill candidates.

"We've got a list of things to look at, but we won't get to them until next year," the staffer said.

In addition to the manpower needed to keep track of country-of-origin labeling, Hammonds of FMI bristled at Bono's plan for levying fines of up to $25,000 and the suspension or revocation of a retailer's

PACA license for violations of the bill.

An FMI spokeswoman noted that a store would even be in violation should a customer carry a produce item from a domestically supplied bin to one containing imported produce.

To make labeling mandatory would hinder supermarkets' ability to remain flexible in how their produce departments are structured and promoted, she said.

Indeed, some retailers routinely make a point of voluntarily labeling many of their fresh produce items by country of origin. Some operators use that to score marketing points, by offering consumers additional information and distinguishing their departments from competitors'.

Kathy Means, vice president of membership and public affairs at the Produce Marketing Association, Newark, Del., said that although PMA hasn't yet weighed in on the Bono bill, her group in the past has opposed country-of-origin labeling at retail.

The United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, Alexandria, Va., is still studying the potential impact of the Bono bill on suppliers, said John McClung, vice president of government relations.