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Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling:Consumer Demand Impact

Glynn Tonsor, Jayson Lusk, Ted Schroeder and, Mykel Taylor (November, 2012)

Summary

The United States implemented mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL) which became effective in March 2009 (USDA AMS, 2009a,b). MCOOL requires grocery retailers to provide country-of-origin labeling information for fresh beef, pork, lamb, chicken, goat, wild and farmraised fish and shellfish, peanuts, pecans, ginseng, and macadamia nuts (Link, 2009). MCOOL for fresh meat products has been laden with substantial controversy for many years.