OCM

Organization for Competitive Markets

P.O. Box 6486

Lincoln, NE 68506

www.competitivemarkets.com

Date: January 13, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Steve Cady 402.792.0041

OCM Responds to Anti-Consumer Attack by NCBA

Lincoln, NE ~ Fred Stokes, president of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), responded today to an unfortunate attack by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) over country of origin labeling (COOL) as the Senate vote on the Omnibus Appropriations Bill draws closer.

In a January 9 memo to its affiliates NCBA wrote:

"Consumer activists like the Consumer Federation of America, Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen and Defenders of Wildlife are using the terrible BSE incident in Washington state (sic) to push their political agenda. These consumer groups along with R-CALF USA and the Organization for Competitive Markets are raising a political smoke screen to stop the Omnibus Appropriations bill in the Senate. The fact is these anti-beef groups have no interest in improving the profitability of producers; they want to get beef off of the consumer’s plate."

"OCM has worked diligently to build a coalition of consumer groups surrounding COOL," commented Stokes. We believe it’s very productive to bring the consumer into the debate. NCBA has some explaining to do. When the major contractor for beef checkoff dollars publicly attacks groups that represent millions of consuming Americans, every cattleman in the country should be concerned," said Stokes. "Producers and consumers agree that COOL for meat and produce is absolutely necessary as both a food safety and a marketing tool."

The U.S. Senate will vote on the Omnibus Appropriations Package (H.R. 2673) at 3:00 p.m. on January 20, 2004. The bill contains language that would delay COOL until 2006, effectively killing the legislation that was passed in the 2002 Farm Bill and signed into law by the President. OCM is encouraging the Senate to vote "no" on H.R. 2673 until the anti-COOL language is removed and full funding for the implementation of COOL is restored. Congress has until January 31, 2004 to pass an appropriations bill.

"There is time for Congress to undertake further alterations in the spending measure without affecting other programs or agencies," noted Stokes. "We encourage all producers and consumers to call their senators and representatives and urge them to 1) reject the current version of the Omnibus Appropriations Package and, 2) amend it to restore full funding for COOL without delay."

Following this release is a list of U.S. Senators and their contact numbers at area code (202).

The Organization for Competitive Markets is a multidisciplinary, nonprofit group of farmers, ranchers, academics, attorneys, and policy makers dedicated to reclaiming the agricultural marketplace for independent farmers, ranchers and rural communities.