Northern Ag Network Note: Industry reaction to the anticipated WTO ruling for the fourth and final time against COOL labeling was just about what was expected: Divided on how to proceed. Those opposed to mandatory Country of Origin Labeling are calling to repeal the requirement and legislation is already underway in the nation's capital. COOL supporter call for continued effort to work through the process to get the mandatory labeling law to conform to WTO standards. We've included press releases from both sides of the issue so you can decide where you stand on this issue.
A Targeted Response to Avoid Retaliation
Today, House Agriculture Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) introduced H.R. 2393, a bill to repeal mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements for beef, pork, and chicken products. Chairman Conaway and his colleagues held a bipartisan press conference with representatives from industries that are targets of retaliation by Canada and Mexico.
H.R. 2393 would amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to repeal Country of Origin Labeling requirements with respect to beef, pork, and poultry, and for other purposes. The Agriculture Committee will consider this legislation tomorrow, May 20, during a 10:00 a.m. business meeting.
“In light of the WTO’s decision and the certainty that we face significant retaliation by Canada and Mexico, we cannot afford to delay action. That’s why I was joined by 61 of my colleagues in introducing H.R. 2393, a bill to repeal mandatory COOL for beef, pork and chicken. This bill is a targeted response that will remove uncertainty, provide stability, and bring us back into compliance. I appreciate the support of so many colleagues on both sides of the aisle as we work quickly to ensure our economy and a broad spectrum of U.S. industries do not suffer the economic impacts of retaliation,” said Chairman Conaway.
“As we have seen time and again, mandatory Country of Origin Labeling is a misguided government policy that has damaged our trading relationships with Canada and Mexico and subjected the United States to trade retaliations. That is why I am honored to be joined by my colleagues in introducing critical bipartisan legislation to repeal COOL for beef, pork and chicken. We have the data, studies, and the World Trade Organization’s experience to demonstrate that COOL is detrimental to our state and national economies, and hurts our nation’s beef, pork and chicken producers and packers. As such, I look forward to continuing to work, in a bipartisan manner, with Congress to move this legislation forward and repeal COOL,” said Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee’s Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee.
“I am proud to be a co-sponsor of this bill. Repealing COOL is the right thing to do. If Congress doesn’t act quickly, the retaliatory actions taken by Canada and Mexico will bring widespread harm to countless families and businesses across North Carolina and the country,” said Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee.
R-CALF USA: COOL Repeal Legislation Is Siren Call from the One Percent
Billings, MT -Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-TX), along with a purported 61 cosponsors, introduced H.R. 2393, a bill to repeal country of origin labeling (COOL) requirements for beef, pork, and chicken products. In a news release issued today, Conaway claims his bill is a “targeted response” to yesterday's World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that found Canadian and Mexican livestock were treated less favorably than domestic livestock.
“Conaway is misleading Congress and the American people,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard who added, “Conaway's bill is nothing more than a Siren call by the one percent: He is trying to coerce the public into supporting something that will ultimately cause them harm.”
Bullard points out that Conaway's bill calls for the removal of chicken from COOL requirements even though the WTO ruling had nothing to do with the labeling of chicken meat.
“This is proof that Conaway's bill is not a 'targeted response' to the WTO; but rather, Conaway is exploiting the WTO ruling to support the multinational meatpackers' decade-long effort to hide the origins of food from consumers,” Bullard said.
The U.S. district court and the U.S. appeals court for the District of Columbia have together issued three decisions since 2013 that found that the United States' COOL law and regulations are compliant with the U.S. Constitution and that Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had the authority to pass and implement the law, respectively.
In those court decisions, COOL was found to serve a food safety function by allowing consumers to select products based on such factors as the United States' supervision of the entire production process for health and hygiene and by containing the market impacts of a disease outbreak in a foreign country.
“Our courts have found that COOL benefits consumers and that there is nothing wrong with our COOL law,” said Bullard adding, “The problem is with the WTO and Congress should be introducing legislation to fix the WTO, not strip consumers of their right to know where their food is produced.”
The presiding official on the three-member WTO panel that issued the May 18, 2015 ruling that favored the positions of Canada and Mexico is Ricardo Ramírez-Hernández, who is, according to his biography, not only a Mexican national, but he also was Deputy Counsel for Trade Negotiations of the Ministry of Economy in Mexico for more than a decade; he represented Mexico in international trade litigation; and he was lead counsel to the Mexican government in past WTO disputes.”
Bullard said the blatant conflict of interest created when a Mexican official is appointed to preside over a complaint brought by Mexico would never be tolerated in any judicial or administrative proceeding in the United States.
“This is just the tip of iceberg when considering the problems that Congress created by ceding a huge swath of U.S. sovereignty to the unelected and unaccountable WTO tribunal,” Bullard added.
Bullard said his organization is urging that members of Congress not allow Conaway and his followers to trick them into supporting the interests of a handful of multinational corporations at the expense of hundreds of thousands of U.S. livestock producers and hundreds of millions of U.S. consumers.
“What Conaway is doing is a travesty and we hope the majority of members will quickly see through it,” Bullard concluded.
Source: R-CALF, U.S. House Agriculture Committee
