Ag Chair Calls for Repeal of COOL Rule
The chair of the House Agriculture Committee has introduced legislation to repeal the Country of Origin Labeling requirement, commonly known as COOL. The law, intended to provide consumers information about the origin of their beef, pork, and poultry, has been mired in a 13-year dispute between the United States and its North American neighbors, Mexico and Canada.
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Quick fact Agricultural exports in 2013 supported about 1.1 million full-time, private-sector jobs, which included 793,900 off the farm jobs in the food processing industry, trade and transportation, and other supporting industries. —USDA |
The countries filed suit with the World Trade Organization after Congress, in 2002, enacted a mandatory country-of-origin labeling requirement for meat. The suit claimed that the COOL rule diminished the value of the their livestock. The WTO agreed and ruled against the U.S. in 2011. The organization has upheld that decision through a series of appeals. It issued its fourth and final ruling against COOL last week.
Ag Committee Chairman and U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) responded immediately, asking lawmakers to repeal the law in an attempt to prevent retaliation from Canada and Mexico. The countries have threatened tariffs on U.S. exports in response to COOL.
“While I have long been a critic of COOL,” Conaway said, “I agreed upon assuming the chairmanship of this committee that I would wait until the WTO issued its final decision concerning the legality of COOL. That has now occurred. The United States has lost.
“Some will say we need to keep waiting until retaliation has commenced before we consider our next step. That is not something I am willing to do. We know we face retaliatory sanctions that could have effects in the billions of dollars. Regardless of the amount, we cannot sit back and let American businesses be held hostage to the desires of a small minority who refuse to acknowledge that the battle is lost.”
Supporters of COOL say it provides valuable information to consumers.
“The problem is with the WTO,” said Bill Bullard, CEO of Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, “and Congress should be introducing legislation to fix the WTO, not strip consumers of their right to know where their food is produced.” S