Meatingplace.com is now reporting that there could be big country of origin labeling (COOL) news out any day now. According to a recent article on the website, they report:
“Lawyers for the organizations that filed a lawsuit against current country-of-origin labeling rules say a decision is due any day on their quest to prevent the USDA from enforcing those rules, according to John Dillard, an attorney with Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz, which represents the North American Meat Association.”
If the decision is in the plaintiffs' favor, it would stop the enforcement of new COOL rules in its tracks. Those updated rules came out in May of 2013 and their constitutionality was subsequently threatened.
It's a lawsuit that has split the livestock industry in half. Organizations behind the lawsuit include the National Pork Producers Council, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and American Meat Institute. They contend no new rules should be implemented until it is known first that the WTO approves of them. Groups defending COOL via an injunction include the U.S. Cattlemen's Association, National Farmers Union, and American Sheep Industry Association. Their argument is that it is a consumer’s right to know where their product is coming from and a producer’s right to provide that information.
© Northern Ag Network 2014
Haylie Shipp
