Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
                         HOUSE CONCURRENT
                          RESOLUTION NO. 35
                                102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
                             INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE CHRISTENSEN.
     5049H.01I                                                      DANA RADEMAN MILLER, Chief Clerk



                 WHEREAS, American farmers and ranchers raise the best meat in the world; and
 2
 3          WHEREAS, Americans should have the right to knowingly buy made-in-America
 4   products; and
 5
 6          WHEREAS, American farmers, ranchers, workers, and consumers benefit from
 7   transparency on the origins of their food; and
 8
 9          WHEREAS, consumers have repeatedly and overwhelmingly expressed their support
10   for country-of-origin labeling of food products in the United States; and
11
12          WHEREAS, in 2008, the United States Congress overwhelmingly passed mandatory
13   country-of-origin labeling for muscle cuts and ground meat sold at retail, requiring meat
14   produced from imported livestock or imported boxed meat to bear a different label from meat
15   produced from United States born, raised, and slaughtered livestock; and
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17          WHEREAS, trade groups and the organizations representing multinational meat
18   packers worked predominantly with Canada, as well as Mexico, to bring a World Trade
19   Organization case against the United States for the removal of the country-of-origin labeling
20   requirements; and
21
22           WHEREAS, in 2015, the United States Congress repealed the country-of-origin
23   labeling law for beef and pork, reducing the competitive advantage of products born, raised,
24   and slaughtered in the United States; and
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26          WHEREAS, the United States has the highest food safety standards in the world,
27   while other countries place less emphasis on food safety; and
HCR 35                                             2

28
29         WHEREAS, foreign commodities such as beef and pork are misleadingly labeled
30   "Product of the USA" if they are processed or packed in the United States; and
31
32           WHEREAS, country-of-origin labeling gives producers and consumers the ability to
33   distinguish truly American products from foreign imported meat; and
34
35           WHEREAS, technological advancements make it possible to accurately and
36   efficiently identify the origins of beef and pork without costly separation of imported and
37   domestic commodities; and
38
39          WHEREAS, country-of-origin labeling is good for farmers, ranchers, workers, and
40   meat packers because it allows them to identify their products as born, raised, and slaughtered
41   in the United States; and
42
43         WHEREAS, the Missouri General Assembly supports American products, and
44   consumers have the right to know the origins of their food:
45
46           NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of
47   Representatives of the One Hundred Second General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the
48   Senate concurring therein, hereby support the right of consumers to know the origins of their
49   food, support the use of country-of-origin labels, and urge the United States Congress to
50   reinstate mandatory country-of-origin labeling; and
51
52          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of
53   Representatives be instructed to prepare a properly inscribed copy of this resolution for each
54   member of Missouri's Congressional delegation.
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