The end of the labelling law came as part of a wider federal spending bill passed by Congress today (18 December).
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Canada and Mexico argued that the measure was nothing more than thinly disguised protectionism.
CANADA – Canada’s agriculture minister says United States lawmakers are well aware of the consequences of failure to approve legislation that will repeal provisions of Country of Origin Labelling for beef and pork, writes Bruce Cochrane.
After years-long trade disputes and billions of dollars in losses to Canada’s pork and beef sectors, mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) is officially been abolished in the U.S.
Canada’s International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland said the outcome was a sign of improving relations between Canada and the United States since Canada’s new Liberal government was elected in October.
“COOL harms both Canadian and Mexican livestock producers”, they said from the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. The World Trade Organization was expected to meet with Canada and Mexico regarding COOL tariffs on Friday.
“We will be monitoring the situation to make sure there are no problems in this area”, MacAulay added.
Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, the Republican chair of the Senate’s powerful agriculture committee, said Friday he was relieved that COOL had been repealed and that the bill would soon land on President Barack Obama’s desk for signature.
“USDA will be amending the COOL regulations as expeditiously as possible to reflect the repeal of the beef and pork provisions”, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.
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The bottom line in this country is that what it has to do is repeal COOL and when the legislation is evaluated totally and it repeals COOL then we will be in a position to remove retaliation but not until it has satisfactorily removed COOL from pork and beef in this country.
