AFFI White Paper Urges Fix of Food-Origin Labeling Regulation in Order to Save Jobs 2/25/2003
From: Lucas Darnell or Katherine Hazelrigg, 703-821-0770 both of the American Frozen Food Institute SAN DIEGO, Feb. 25 -- Warning of American job loss, a white paper issued today by the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) describes specific scenarios under a country of origin labeling regulation that would dissuade frozen food makers from using domestic produce and seafood, and from housing product blending facilities within the United States. The complete White Paper is available online at http://www.affi.com. "The new marking scheme is seriously broken. It needs to be fixed. Taking the time and making the effort to fix what is broken must be recognized as good public policy," said Leslie G. Sarasin, CAE, AFFI's president and chief executive officer. At issue is a new country of origin marking scheme for some food products that departs dramatically from long-standing provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued new voluntary marking guidelines in October 2002, as required in the 2002 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill directs USDA to issue a final new mandatory marking regulation in 2004. The White Paper is a compilation of case studies, consumer research and insights that support AFFI's case that the new marking scheme could create unintended consequences. Feared effects include disincentives to maintaining frozen produce and frozen seafood facilities in the United States, as well as disincentives to source domestic produce and seafood for further processing. AFFI cites examples showing that the presence of certain processing operations within the United States and the use of domestic ingredients can subject food products to marking requirements that are significantly more complex and costly than those that would apply if the products were processed in other countries, or did not contain domestic ingredients. In the White Paper issued during its 2003 Western Frozen Food Convention in San Diego, California, AFFI said it "urges Congress to hold hearings to identify actions necessary to mitigate the negative consequences identified in this White Paper, as well as other consequences identified by members of the Food Industry Trade Coalition." AFFI chairs the Food Industry Trade Coalition, a coalition of food processors, retailers and producers that seeks to expand overseas markets for U.S. products and opposes trade-distorting measures in the U.S. "It is AFFI's view that the severity and validity of the feared consequences necessitate remedial actions, potentially including repeal of the new country of origin marking scheme; promotion of an enhanced voluntary marking program rather than issuance of a new regulation in 2004, with the understanding that the voluntary program that resulted from the Farm Bill is not suitable; or, at the very least, elimination of the duplicative marking requirements on food products," AFFI said. In addition to detailed descriptions of the treatment of various food products under the new marking scheme, AFFI's white paper includes the results of a new consumer survey conducted independently for AFFI by Opinion Research Corporation in January 2003. When asked to identify factors that affect their purchasing decisions related to frozen fruits and vegetables, less than one percent of respondents indicated a response related to the "country where a product is from." Significantly, this is the same result revealed by an identical survey fielded by the same company for AFFI in 1996. AFFI said this indicates country of origin has not increased among consumers' top-of-mind purchasing factors despite publicity related to marking issues since the last survey was fielded. Price, taste, brand, quality and nutritional value remained the top five motivators named by respondents. The survey results also detected strong concern among respondents about the potential for unintended negative consequences of a new marking regulation. The potential for loss of jobs due to the disincentive for frozen food companies to locate blending facilities within the United States was most concerning to respondents. Only six percent of respondents indicated that the potential consequences were not of concern to them. "AFFI's survey results should be an encouragement to members of Congress who are considering fixing what is broken in the new marking scheme. They are not under as much pressure as they once were to plow forward without addressing the regulation's unintended consequences. In fact, a hasty approach is becoming less popular as people realize the new requirements in practice are not as attractive as they once considered the new requirements in theory. The potential for job loss, real concerns on the part of consumers and second thoughts on the part of stakeholders outweigh any clamoring for a 'damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead' approach to policymaking," Sarasin said. ------ The American Frozen Food Institute is the national trade association that has represented the interests of the frozen food industry for more than 61 years. Its 516 corporate members account for more than 90 percent of the frozen food production in the U.S. Note: AFFI's Web site (www.affi.com) includes additional materials for use in filing a story on this topic. The following materials are available for immediate release: -- The complete white paper -- Charts demonstrating the results of AFFI's consumer opinion survey -- An example of the differences in country of origin marking depending on the location at which a frozen produce product was blended |