Study reveals COOL not the cause cattle imports falloff

Morning Ag Clips reports the decline in cattle imports into the U.S. is not due to Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), according to a recently released study.

“COOL did not cause the declines in livestock exports to the United States, which largely coincided with a substantial global economic downturn that sapped demand for more expensive meat products,” notes the study, authored by C. Robert Taylor, Ph.D., an Auburn University Alfa eminent scholar and professor.

The study concludes that cattle exports to the U.S. are subject to a number of variables that are completely independent of the implementation of COOL. And the study recommends “neither Congress nor USDA should undertake any changes to COOL based on arguments that COOL has limited Canadian and Mexican access to the U.S. market.”