The House of Representatives passed legislation this week repealing the country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements for meat, prompting U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) to praise his Congressional counterparts.
“I applaud the House for its swift action to prevent retaliation from Canada and Mexico,” Roberts, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, said. “My counterpart in the House, Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX), has done an incredible job leading a bipartisan and decisive charge to protect American agriculture.”
First authorized over a dozen years ago as part of the Farm Bill, the COOL regulation requires all information regarding the country where livestock are born, raised and slaughtered to be disclosed. Earlier this year, the World Trade Organization handed down a ruling stating that COOL label rule creates an unfair advantage to U.S. products, as consumers often shy away from meat produced outside of the United States.
“I am continuing to take suggestions from my colleagues in the Senate for alternatives that meet our trade obligations,” Roberts said. “However, almost a month has passed since the WTO ruling was announced, and repeal remains the surest way to protect the American economy from retaliatory tariffs. We can sit here and let this happen. Or we can move. Let’s get a move on.”
Canada and Mexico are in full support of the WTO ruling. The two nations have indicated that a North American label will not be an acceptable alternative. In fact, the Canadian Agriculture Minister has gone on the record stating that “a full repeal of COOL is the United States’ only option to avoid retaliation.”