Food labeling advocates and meat packers have been given a week to strike a deal on mandatory country-of-origin labeling, temporarily averting what was expected to be a heated debate over the hot-button issue.

Advocates of labeling, which was mandated by the 2002 farm law, were bracing for a Republican amendment to the new farm bill (HR 2419) that would have weakened the requirement. The House Agriculture Committee is in the third day of work on a new five-year farm bill.

Since the 2002 law was enacted, congressional Republicans, backed by the meatpacking industry, have delayed implementation of the labeling mandate. Currently, only fish products are required to carry country-of-origin labels.

Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., now has given both sides in the labeling fight a week to work out a compromise before the farm bill goes to the House floor. If no deal is reached, the fight will play out on the House floor and the outcome could make nobody happy, Peterson said.

Nevertheless, the final package may include some compromises, Peterson said, including reducing fines on retailers who sell products that are not properly labeled.

The committee worked well into Wednesday night on the bill, plowing through amendments to the multi-billion dollar reauthorization that funds farm subsidies, conservation programs, nutrition programs and energy incentives among other Agriculture Department programs.