U.S: Reinstating mCOOL would cost consumers and meat supply chain over $1 billion annually, new study finds

The Meat Institute announced a new economic analysis by Decision Innovation Solutions finds that reinstating Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (mCOOL) for beef and pork would impose significant costs, more than $1 billion annually, across the U.S. meat supply chain, increasing expenses for livestock producers, meat processors, retailers, and consumers while providing little evidence of increased consumer demand for labeled products.

The study, The Economic Impact of mCOOL on the Beef and Pork Value Chains, updates previous US Department of Agriculture and industry research using current production, trade, consumption, and market data to evaluate the potential impacts of reinstating the 2013 mCOOL requirements. The findings show that compliance costs associated with tracking, recordkeeping, product segregation, labeling, and verification would substantially increase costs throughout the beef and pork value chains.

According to the study, reinstating mCOOL would cost the beef and pork industries approximately $1.02 billion in the first year alone, including $721 million for beef and $296 million for pork. Most of these expenses would be recurring operational costs rather than one-time investments. Over time, those costs would continue to grow, reaching an estimated $4.8 billion over five years and $10.1 billion over 10 years.

The study concludes that compliance costs would largely be passed through the supply chain and reflected in higher food prices for families. Researchers estimate consumers would pay approximately $835 million more annually for beef purchases and $284 million more annually for pork purchases. Together, that represents more than $1.1 billion in additional food costs for consumers every year.

The report finds that meat packers, processors, and retailers would shoulder the largest compliance burden because they would be responsible for tracking animal origin information, maintaining separate inventories, segregating products, modifying production schedules, updating labels, and documenting compliance.

The report finds producers would face impacts from reduced market efficiency, increased documentation requirements, and less flexibility throughout the supply chain. Previous USDA analyses cited in the study found that mCOOL can create market disruptions that reduce livestock value and increase overall system costs.