WTO rules with Canada and Mexico on COOL

In the ongoing debate of the U.S. mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) law, the World Trade Organization (WTO) recently ruled in favor of Canada and Mexico, stating some COOL requirements treat Canadian and Mexican livestock less favorable than U.S. livestock.

Drovers CattleNetwork reports the Oct. 20 ruling says the “compliance panel concluded that the amended COOL measure increases the original COOL measure’s detrimental impact on the competitive opportunities of imported livestock in the U.S. market, because it necessitates increased segregation of meat and livestock according to origin; entails a higher recordkeeping burden; and increases the original COOL measure’s incentive to choose domestic over imported livestock.”

WTO’s decision summary added the “detrimental impact caused by the amended COOL measure’s labeling and recordkeeping rules could not be explained by the need to convey to consumers information regarding the countries where livestock were born, raised and slaughtered.”

Both Canada and Mexico have threatened to retaliate in the form of placing tariffs on U.S. imports. Canada’s list of targeted products includes more than just live cattle and hogs and meat products, but also fresh fruits, grains, pasta, bread and other pastries, wine, ketchup, certain metals, jewelry, mattresses and more. Mexico has not yet released its list.