It has been a long road for Country Of Origin Labeling (COOL) - 16 years. But last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the rules of implementation for COOL effectively giving the legislation a green light to be put into play. The rule takes effect on Sept. 30 with a six-month compliance period.

COOL legislation was introduced by then Rep. Tim Johnson in 1992. It didn't get any traction and was reintroduced by Johnson, by then a senator, in 1997.

The legislation inched along until 2002 when it was included in the 2002 Farm Bill.

But through a series of delays, the legislation wasn't fully implemented and finally found itself in the 2008 Farm Bill, finally with USDA backing and the implementation date.

The measure has been criticized as being too expensive and not necessary. Considering the amount of time that has passed since its introduction and the hoops that have been jumped through, we believe the opposition was adamant in seeing COOL disposed of.

But COOL makes sense for South Dakota producers and consumers. For years the COOL battle cry has been something to the effect: "You know where you're t-shirt comes from, you should know where your t-bone comes from."

That certainly oversimplifies the argument either for or against the legislation but it does capture the essence of the legislation. Why shouldn't your food be labeled as to origin?

Opponents of COOL argue it's a "trade barrier" that creates the perception imported products are less safe than those produced in the U.S. and that it's too expensive to implement.

We'll wait and see what affect the legislation has on imports, exports and prices but we don't believe it will be as dramatic as the opposition would suggest.

Today's food supplies have come under intense scrutiny in recent months. Tomatoes, beef, tamales have all be subject to recalls.

We won't fool ourselves into believing COOL will make all foods safe or that U.S. products are inherently safer than imports - recalls are too common. But we do see a value in country of origin labeling for beef, or any other product American consumers buy.

The legislation has it shortfalls but labeling suggests quality and that's something consumers should expect. The same idea has been put into play with South Dakota Certified Beef. Gov. Mike Rounds created that program as part of the state's 2010 initiative with the goal of increasing producer's profits and to ensure the consumers they were getting a safe product. COOL could have something of the same effect on the national market.

Labeling empowers the consumer to make better choices. We say let the market decide. Country of origin labeling will provide the consumers with more information but ultimately, consumers will decide what they prefer.

For some, purchases may be patriotic or based on a decision to keep their money at home. But for others it may come down to quality and price.

Consumers will decide which food products best fit their palettes and budgets - COOL gives them another tool to make that decision.