II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1844 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to provide for voluntary 

country of origin labeling for beef, pork, and chicken. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2015 

Mr. HOEVEN (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. HEITKAMP, Mr. GRASSLEY, 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. THUNE, Mr. BROWN, Mr. ENZI, and Mr. ROUNDS) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to provide 

for voluntary country of origin labeling for beef, pork, 

and chicken. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Voluntary Country of 

5 Origin Labeling (COOL) and Trade Enhancement Act of 

6 2015’’. 

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•S 1844 IS

1 SEC. 2. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING REQUIREMENTS 

2 FOR BEEF, PORK, AND CHICKEN. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 281 of the Agricultural 

4 Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking paragraphs (1) and (7); 

6 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), (4), 

7 (5), (6), (8), and (9) as paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 

8 (4), (5), (6), and (7), respectively; and 

9 (3) in paragraph (1)(A) (as redesignated by 

10 paragraph (2))— 

11 (A) by striking clause (i) and inserting the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(i) muscle cuts of lamb and veni14 son;’’; 

15 (B) by striking clause (ii) and inserting the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(ii) ground lamb and ground veni18 son;’’; 

19 (C) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

20 end; 

21 (D) by striking clause (viii); and 

22 (E) by redesignating clauses (ix), (x), and 

23 (xi) as clauses (viii), (ix), and (x), respectively. 

24 (b) NOTICE OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.—Section 282 

25 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 

26 1638a) is amended— 

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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub3 section (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (b) and 

4 (c)’’; and 

5 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

6 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik7 ing ‘‘BEEF, LAMB, PORK, CHICKEN,’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘LAMB,’’; 

9 (ii) in subparagraphs (A) through 

10 (D), by striking ‘‘beef, lamb, pork, chick11 en,’’ each place it appears and inserting 

12 ‘‘lamb,’’; and 

13 (iii) in subparagraph (E)— 

14 (I) in the subparagraph heading, 

15 by striking ‘‘GROUND BEEF, PORK, 

16 LAMB, CHICKEN,’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘GROUND LAMB,’’; and 

18 (II) by striking ‘‘ground beef, 

19 ground pork, ground lamb, ground 

20 chicken,’’ each place it appears and 

21 inserting ‘‘ground lamb,’’; 

22 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) 

23 as subsections (d) through (g), respectively; 

24 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol25 lowing: 

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•S 1844 IS

1 ‘‘(c) VOLUNTARY DESIGNATION OF COUNTRY OF OR2 IGIN FOR BEEF, PORK, AND CHICKEN.— 

3 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF PACKER.—In this sub4 section, the term ‘packer’ has the meaning given the 

5 term in section 201 of the Packers and Stockyards 

6 Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 191). 

7 ‘‘(2) VOLUNTARY DESIGNATION.—As deter8 mined by the Secretary, a packer of beef, pork, or 

9 chicken may voluntarily designate any raw single-in10 gredient beef, pork, or chicken intended for retail 

11 sale as exclusively having a United States country of 

12 origin only if the beef, pork, or chicken meets the re13 quirements of clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of subsection 

14 (a)(2)(A). 

15 ‘‘(3) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary shall en16 sure compliance with paragraph (2) in the same 

17 manner as the Secretary ensures compliance with 

18 subsection (a)(2)(A). 

19 ‘‘(4) SAVINGS CLAUSE.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

21 subparagraph (B), nothing in this paragraph 

22 affects any other Federal marketing or regu23 latory program or similar State initiative. 

24 ‘‘(B) UNITED STATES COUNTRY OF ORI25 GIN.—No Federal agency, State, or political esmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 tablishment of a State may establish or enforce 

2 a statute or administrative action that provides 

3 for the labeling of any beef, pork, or chicken in4 tended for retail sale as exclusively having a 

5 United States country of origin in a manner 

6 that is less stringent than, or otherwise incon7 sistent with, the requirements of paragraph (2) 

8 and subsection (a)(2)(A).’’; and 

9 (4) in paragraph (2) of subsection (g) (as re10 designated by paragraph (2))— 

11 (A) by striking subparagraphs (B) and 

12 (C); and 

13 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 

14 and (E) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respec15 tively. 

Æ 

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