MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — Mexico said on Thursday it would decide within 15 days what sanctions to impose on U.S. meat products if the U.S. Congress does not comply with a World Trade Organization ruling on labelling.
On Monday, the WTO ruled that U.S. country-of-origin labelling (COOL) laws discriminated against imported meat from Mexico and Canada.
“We have our teams prepared and working, specialists in international law…in case the U.S. Congress doesn’t comply,” Enrique Martinez, Mexico’s agriculture minister, said at a news conference.
“I think in some 15 days we will have a clearer idea,” Martinez added, of “what the sanctions would be.”
On Wednesday, U.S legislation to repeal the meat labelling laws was approved by the House of Representatives agricultural committee. The chairman of the committee has said he expected an early June vote on the bill.
Since 2009, U.S. retail outlets have been required to use labels such as “Born in Mexico, Raised and Slaughtered in the United States” to give consumers more information about the safety and origin of their food.
