Posted January 13, 2014
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard
oral arguments on Jan. 9 in the case involving the USDA’s most recent Country
of Origin Labeling (COOL) rule, according to an article by Feedstuffs available
here.
The lawsuit, American
Meat Institute, et al. v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, was filed on July
8, 2013, alleging that the COOL final rule violates the First Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution, violates the Agricultural Marketing Act, and violates the
Administrative Procedure Act. The
complaint is available here. The District Court Judge denied the
plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction to stop implementation of the
final rule on September 11. The
memorandum opinion is available here.
Plaintiffs then appealed the denial of the preliminary
injunction and moved for an expedited hearing. On October 29, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
denied plaintiffs motion for an expedited hearing.
The National Farmers Union (NFU), the U.S. Cattlemen’s
Association and the Consumer Federation of America are participating in the
case as defendants of COOL, according to an Agri-Pulse article available here.
Opponents of COOL argue that the rules will damage U.S.
trade relations with the U.S. and Mexico, which are challenging the law, “saying
it provides an unfair advantage to U.S. products. Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz in
December repeated a threat to seek retaliatory tariffs if the COOL rules aren’t
changed.”
Supporters of COOL, including the NFU said the “new
labels address concerns at the World Trade Organization by ensuring that
consumers have access to clear and accurate information that lets them know the
sources of their food.”
The COOL final rule, available here,
became effective on May 23, 2013 and modified certain provisions of the COOL
regulations after the World Trade Organization (WTO) found that aspects of the
regulations violated U.S. trade obligations.
The final rule requires labels on certain cuts of meat, to provide
information on where it was born, raised, and slaughtered.
For background information on the lawsuit and WTO
ruling, recent posts from this blog are available here
and here. For more information on COOL, please visit
the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
