[US] Lawmakers, Meat Industry Seek Delay in Origin Labeling Rules

An omnibus fiscal year 2014 appropriations bill making its way through Congress includes a provision urging the Department of Agriculture to delay revised regulations concerning the country of origin labeling of meat products... Lawmakers want the rules put on hold pending a World Trade Organization decision expected this spring on whether the regulations comply with WTO rules; if not, Canada and Mexico could be authorized to impose billions of dollars’ worth of trade sanctions against U.S. exports. Members of a House-Senate conference committee trying to hammer out a new farm bill are reportedly considering repealing the COOL law provisions on meat altogether.

... the U.S. meat industry offered arguments before a federal appeals court Jan. 9 in a case challenging the USDA’s COOL regulations. According to press reports, the industry argued that these regulations violate First Amendment protections against compelled speech, pose a financial burden that will increase consumer prices, and could expose the U.S. to significant retaliatory sanctions in the WTO case. An attempt to stay the rules while the litigation is ongoing was rejected by a lower court, and the appeals court is expected to rule within the next few weeks on whether to uphold that action...

This has been excerpted from the 15 January 2014 article by Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg Trade LLP, and is available in its entirety at: http://www.strtrade.com/news-publications-meat-country-origin-labeling-rules-Congress-011514.html.