Video of an AMI-sponsored media teleconference to react to the release of USDA’s final rule on country-of-origin labeling (COOL) is now available on AMI’s YouTube Channel, The Meat News Network . The video features AMI’s Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel Mark Dopp reacting to news of the rule, published in today’s Federal Register, and taking questions from more than a dozen reporters who dialed into the teleconference.
In a statement on the rule, Dopp said, “It is incomprehensible that USDA would finalize a controversial rule that stands to harm American agriculture, when comments on the proposal made clear how deeply and negatively it will impact U.S. meat companies and livestock producers. This rubber stamping of the proposal begs the question of the integrity of the process: many people spoke, but no one at USDA listened. The decision to proceed with a rule that is more costly, complex and burdensome than the earlier version, when WTO and our trading partners have sent strong signals that this is no ‘fix,’ shows a reckless disregard for trade relations and for companies whose very survival is at risk because they rely upon imported livestock. If it wasn’t obvious previously that politics were driving USDA’s COOL rule, it is painfully clear now.”
Dopp was widely quoted in Bloomberg News wire stories and in many other media reports.
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