Beef and hog producers returned from Geneva late last week convinced that Canada has made the best arguments possible in its World Trade Organization challenge of country-of-origin-labelling rules in the United States.
Canadian officials provided argument and evidence that U.S. COOL requirements have undermined Canadian exports and prices to the U.S. The WTO dispute resolution panel will now spend a month or more getting detailed answers from both sides on their evidence.
A ruling is expected in late July.
Neither Canadian Pork Council officials nor Canadian Cattlemen’s Association representatives who attended the hearing last week were prepared to predict the outcome.
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“I have learned from past cases that we can never really predict a panel,” CPC executive director Martin Rice said. “But I think we made a strong case and I think there is acknowledgement that COOL has had a big impact on the Canadian industry in both volume and income.”
He estimated the impact at $100 million for the hog sector.
CCA president Travis Toews said in a statement that federal lawyers made a “strong presentation” and he praised federal trade minister Peter Van Loan and agriculture minister Gerry Ritz for committing significant federal dollars to the case.
In Canada’s closing statement to the panel, Canadian officials said the U.S. has not proved that the COOL rules are meant to provide information to consumers rather than to discriminate in the American marketplace against imports.
Canada also urged panel members to reject American contentions that Canadian claims of harm are merely “anecdotal.”
“These witness statements, confirmed by letters from major U.S. slaughter houses, are not anecdotal but demonstrate the actual effects of the COOL measure in the U.S. market,” said Canadian lawyers. “Nor have these anecdotes been rebutted by any evidence from the United States.”
