Agriculture minister Gerry Ritz took his complaints about U.S. country-of-origin labelling rules directly to Washington politicians this week, vowing retaliation if they do not change COOL.
Canadian Cattlemen’s Association leaders also travelled to the American capital to meet with allies in the U.S. cattle and meat industry and to reinforce the government message.
Ritz met with agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack and with senators and congressmen with influence on the issue.
“COOL continues to have a negative economic impact on the Canadian livestock industry and we are standing with Canadian cattle and hog producers against unfair mandatory country-of-origin labelling in the U.S.,” Ritz said in a statement issued after meetings ended.
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“Our government will consider all options, including extensive retaliatory measures, should the U.S. not achieve compliance by May 23, 2013, as mandated by the (World Trade Organization).”
Canada and Mexico won a WTO case against COOL, successfully arguing that the requirement to label all meat products with ingredients from outside the U.S. is protectionism rather than consumer education.
The WTO ordered the U.S. to make changes by May 23 to bring the law into compliance with international trade rules.
The U.S. response was changes that Canada says make the rules even worse.
If acceptable changes are not made by the May deadline, Canada has the right to retaliate with tariffs on imports from the U.S., although the WTO process of appeals and hearings mean retaliation likely would not kick in until 2014.
CCA president Martin Unrau said the only way the U.S. can satisfy Canada’s complaint is to change the COOL legislation to allow for either a single mandatory label for all meat processed in the U.S. or voluntary labelling.
It would designate meat processed in the U.S., no matter where it came from, as “product of the U.S.”
The American meat packing industry supports the Canadian demand for change because COOL rules have restricted their access to Canadian cattle, forcing some plants to close or to operate well below capacity.
