The House and Senate Agriculture Committees are facing a spate of legislative issues that have been ongoing and unresolved.  A decision must be made on Country of Origin labeling legislation, September 30 is the deadline to reauthorize the nation’s $30 billion in annual spending on child nutrition programs.  House hearings on dietary guidelines are also expected to be held.

Country-of-Origin Legislation

The Senate has differing opinions of how to solve the country-of-origin labeling issue (COOL) for meat. A pending Senate proposal introduced by Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) this summer would repeal mandatory COOL regulations administered by the Agriculture Department and establish a voluntary labeling program for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and meatpackers that want to advertise a product as originating completely in the United States.

Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) backs the House strategy to completely repeal COOL. With the threat of retaliation hanging over U.S. exports, the House passed a COOL bill on June 10 by a vote of 300-131 after Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX), chairman of the Agriculture Committee, introduced the legislation.

Both House and Senate bills are strategies to stop an estimated $3.2 billion in tariffs against the United States by Canada and Mexico, after a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling in May. The WTO found that U.S. mandatory COOL regulations violate international trade rules because they accord less favorable treatment to imported meat products than to domestic ones.  A WTO arbitration panel on September 15-16 will consider the U.S. objection to the $2.5 billion and $713 million non-compliance retaliation requests sought by Canada and Mexico, respectively.

Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts  (R-KS) has scheduled a September 17 markup for a child nutrition reauthorization bill.  Roberts and ranking member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) are working hard to craft a bipartisan bill and overcome the potential for conflict over nutrition standards and standards used to determine eligibility for free lunches. Even if the two craft a compromise, the House has just four legislative days after the markup to make the deadline.

The $13 billion-per-year National School Lunch Program and $4 billion-per-year School Breakfast Program would continue to reimburse local school districts for providing free and reduced-price meals for eligible students even if Congress does not pass a reauthorization bill. The program’s benefits are federal entitlements.  Therefore,  eligible beneficiaries have the right to sue the government if they are not provided.

Dietary Guidelines

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway  (R-TX) announced this week that he is planning on holding hearings on dietary guidelines sometime in October. The date has not been set but Conaway said he hopes to get both Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell to testify.