Vilsack Halts Enforcing COOL Requirements

Congress approved legislation to suspend country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for certain muscle cuts of meat that will avoid costly trade retaliation by Canada and Mexico.

Vilsack said labeling regulations on the books will be amended “as expeditiously as possible” to bring the beef and pork provisions into line.

Now, importers from around 15 countries including Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Canada will find it easier to market beef in the USA as labelling will be less rigorous than it has been.

The Congressional repeal followed threats by both Canada and Mexico to impose punitive tariffs and after the World Trade Organization found the law violated global trade rules.

U.S. President Barack Obama signs the budget bill that will fund the government until next September, in the Oval Office at the White House December 18, 2015 in Washington, DC.

12/22/2015Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released the following statement regarding the language in the omnibus bill repealing the country of origin labeling requirements for beef and pork products.

Bill Bullard, chief executive of R-CALF USA, said the US could have tried the diplomatic approach with Canada and Mexico to see if there were ways outside of WTO “to resolve their parochial concerns with our COOL law before any retaliatory tariffs could be implemented, but the President and his cabinet remained indifferent to the potential loss of the right of US citizens to know the origins of food”.

“COOL has plagued our industry for many years now, costing us millions and driving us to the brink of retaliation from two of our largest trading partners”, Mr. Ellis said.

“This is fantastic news for Canada’s beef cattle producers”, said Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) President Dave Solverson.

“America’s cattle producers are strong supporters of trade”, said Mr Ellis, “but we must have strong safeguards in place and do our due-diligence to ensure the health and well-being of our domestic herd is not sacrificed”.

The CCA says the legal fees from the court battle against COOL are nearing 4 million dollars – paid for by beef producers through their provincial check-off.