October 1, 2008

LANSING - Michigan’s cattle producers are leading the nation with easily identified and traceable beef products. As part of their Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements effective today, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is requiring all muscle cuts of beef and ground beef sold in the U.S. be labeled to help consumers identify the origin of the product.

While other U.S. producers around the nation are moving quickly to comply with the USDA’s COOL requirements, Michigan’s 1.5 million cattle already have country of origin tags thanks to the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, often known as electronic ID. Additionally, producers will be asked to sign an affidavit at the market confirming the origin of their animals. To date, 14,648 Michigan beef and dairy producers use electronic ID to confirm the origin of their cattle.

“RFID is a cost-effective tool for producers to meet the requirements of COOL, which is vitally important in today’s economic climate,” said Kevin Kirk, Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) Special Assistant to the State Veterinarian. “Utilizing COOL and RFID should help ease consumers' concerns because the labeling helps trace meat products back to the farm and aids officials in quickly investigating disease outbreaks.”

MDA implemented RFID tags as a tool to combat bovine Tuberculosis in the Modified Accredited Zone of Michigan’s Northern Lower Peninsula in 2002. In March 2007, at the request of the beef and dairy industry, MDA made the tags mandatory statewide for cattle leaving a farm. The RFID tags offer an expedient and cost-effective method to trace Michigan beef products to the farm of origin. Packers requiring the country of origin labeling know that Michigan beef and dairy animals are already easily identified and traceable to the farm.

"Meat packers and retailers know they can rely on Michigan's RFID tags for their country of origin claims on products at the market level," said Bill Knudson, Agriculture Economist at Michigan State University's Product Center. “Additionally, some consumers are becoming more interested in food products from domestic and local sources, and RFID tags provide assurance that consumers are getting meat products from Michigan animals.”

As of October 1, 2008: In order to have a U.S. origin label, all beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and goat must be derived exclusively from animals either:

1. Born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States, or
2. Present in the United States on or before July 15, 2008, and once present in the United States, remained continuously in the United States.

To date Michigan cattle producers use RFID tags for their beef and dairy, other livestock consumed for meat must be identified before they leave the farm as well. The identification for livestock other than cattle may be scrapie tags, market backtags, tattoos or lot ID.

For a list of additional Michigan commodities with COOL requirements, visit the MDA website at www.michigan.gov/mda.