A federal appeals court upheld new government rules requiring labels on packaged cuts of meat to specify where the animals were born, raised and slaughtered, AP reports.

The meat industry has attempted to block the rules, which went into effect last year, saying they are costly and provide no health benefits to the consumer. The industry said in court that the rules violate First Amendment rights to freedom of speech by forcing meat producers to provide information about their products without directly advancing a government interest.

However, the court said the government's interest in country-of-origin labels is substantial because there is a long history of such disclosures, a demonstrated consumer interest in knowing where food originates and individual health concerns and market impacts that could arise if there is a foodborne illness outbreak in one of the countries.

The lawsuit was led by the American Meat Institute (AMI), which represents the nation's biggest meatpackers, and joined by other meat industry groups. The meat industry has argued that the paperwork behind the labels is cumbersome and that it is impractical to keep foreign cattle and hogs separate from domestic livestock.

It is unsure whether the AMI will appeal to the Supreme Court, which said that it will study its options accordingly.

The labelling rules have support from consumer groups, environmental groups and some farm groups. United States' ranchers who raise cattle near the northern border and compete with Canadian ranchers have been most supportive of the rules. Ranchers and meatpackers in the Southwest who have a lot of business dealings with Mexico have traditionally opposed it.

Under the rules, a label must be specific. For example, it may say the animal that produced the meat was "born in Mexico, raised and slaughtered in the United States" or "born, raised and slaughtered in the United States." Those rules are a revision from previous USDA rules that would have allowed the labels to say "Product of US" or "Product of US and Mexico." USDA revised the rules after a World Trade Organisation challenge from Mexico and Canada.