An online petition is seeking a ban on beef imports to the U.S. from Brazil. Posted on the White House’s We the People Website, the petition cites Brazil’s tainted meat scandal in asking the administration to ban “unsafe imports” from Brazil until all beef in the U.S. is sold with a country-of-origin label. Food Safety News reports the petition was filed April 13th with the goal of collecting 100,000 signatures in 30 days to get a response from the Trump White House. The online petition states: “This petition will benefit the largest segment of American agriculture – the U.S. cattle industry, as well as protect American consumers.” The petition is backed by the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund or R-CALF USA. R-CALF has long been a supporter of country-of-origin meat labeling. However, Congress in 2015 voted to take the U.S. COOL law off the books after the World Trade Organization approved retaliations by Mexico and Canada of more than $1 billion as a result of the law.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.