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Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) was implemented on seafood in the United States on April 4, 2005. MCOOL exempts the foodservice sector and excludes processed seafood from labeling. This book contributes to understanding the economics of the MCOOL law for seafood by showing that current partial implementation may have unintended consequences both on the domestic supply chain and on trade. In other words, while labeling satisfies the market demand for information provision in one market, exemptions in the other market may create incentives for the diversion of imports, which are assumed to be lower in quality than domestic seafood, to the non-labeled sector. Analyzing alternate scenarios such as voluntary labeling shows that total welfare may be greatest under this scenario compared with partial MCOOL. Voluntary origin labeling of seafood by some U.S. retailers indicate there is no compelling market failure argument warranting MCOOL implementation. Trade between major shrimp exporters and the United States can be affected with partial MCOOL.

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Siny Joseph is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Business at Newman University, USA. She has a PhD in Resource Economics from UMass Amherst. Her research interests include product differentiation, country of origin labeling, asymmetric information, and international trade.

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