OKLAHOMA — Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a brief supporting cattle ranchers against manufacturers who sell foreign-sourced beef products under the “Product of USA” label.
“Ranchers in Oklahoma and across the United States put in tremendous effort to produce the world’s highest quality beef,” said Drummond. “The ‘Product of USA’ label symbolizes the quality of American beef. Using such a label for foreign-sourced beef is dishonest and just plain inaccurate.”
Drummond and 10 other state attorneys general argue in the amicus brief that the U.S. Department of Agriculture now acknowledges that use of the label for foreign-sourced beef products conflicts with federal requirements
The coalition is asking the court to order manufacturers to stop falsely labeling the products.
The AG’s office said the brief supports a lawsuit by South Dakota ranchers against manufactures. A district court ruled in favor of the ranchers and the case is on appeal to the U.S. Eight Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Defendants’ marketing and sale of foreign beef products, whose only apparent connection with the USA is that some processing or packaging took place in the United States, is deceptive, anti-competitive and detrimental to consumers and the reputation of genuine, domestically produced beef products,” Drummond and the coalition of attorneys general wrote.
Also signing the brief are the attorneys general of South Dakota, Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.
You can read the full brief by clicking here.
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