COOL: Gov't vows to fight U.S. provisions on meat labelling

Ottawa will do everything it can to fight provisions of a farm law in the United States that is hurting Canada’s meat producing industry, International Trade Minister Ed Fast said.

Fast described a country-of-origin labelling (COOL) requirement for meat in legislation signed last week by U.S. President Barack Obama as “counter-productive.”

The provisions, first introduced in 2008, require all packaged meat to identify where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered.

Supporters said it better informs consumers, while opponents argue that segregating animals and tracking them adds costs and violates free-trade agreements.

Fast said the legislation undermines North American supply chains and costs the Canadian pork, beef and cattle industry about $1-billion a year.

An insistence on COOL is blamed for reducing Canadian meat exports to the U.S. by half, as some U.S. companies have said they can’t afford to sort, label and store meat from Canada differently than meat from domestic animals.

The Canadian government has said it will consider retaliatory measures and will try to enforce a prior World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that backed Canada’s position on the issue.

The next step will be a hearing Feb. 18 at the WTO.

“...we want to make sure that the United States complies with the ruling of the World Trade Organization.”...

This has been excerpted from the 11 February 2014 article by the Canadian Press, and is available in its entirety at http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/general/cool-conservatives-vow-to-fight-u-s-provisions-on-meat-labelling-132335.