Posted June 30, 2014
A broad
coalition of industries is urging Congress to take action on the U.S. Country
of Origin Labeling (COOL) dispute with Canada and Mexico to prevent billions of
dollars in retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., according to an article on
Feedstuffs available here.
Drovers Cattle Network also published an article here
and KTIC here.
The new
coalition, which represents major commodity and livestock groups as well as
food companies, sent a letter
to the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees requesting
Congress to take action directing the Secretary of Agriculture to “suspend the
revised COOL rule indefinitely if it is found to be in violation of U.S.
international trade obligations.”
"If
Congress fails to ensure that U.S. COOL requirements comply with our
international obligations, U.S. jobs and manufacturing will be put at
risk," said Linda Dempsey, Vice President of International Economic
Affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers, according to Cattle
Network.
Since the
2011 World Trade Organization (WTO) rule that certain COOL requirements
discriminated against foreign livestock and are not consistent with U.S. WTO
trade regulations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has revised the
law requirements and implemented a new set of COOL requirements in May 2013.
The new
labeling requirements for covered meat products require details of each
production step, including where the animal is born, raised, and slaughtered,
to be a part of the MCOOL label. Also, the final rule prohibits the use of
multi-country labeling and eliminates the mixed-origin labeling.
Canada
released a list
of products that they would seek retaliatory tariffs against. These tariffs
would harm coalition members and create economic hardship to the U.S. economy.
For more information on Country of Origin Labeling, please
visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
