News

WTO rejects COOL appeal

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has rejected the United States’ final appeal on Country of Origin Labeling (COOL).

The U.S. had appealed the WTO’s October 2014 ruling that the COOL law discriminates against Canadian cattle and pigs and Mexican cattle.  The WTO decision paves the way for those countries to place tariffs on U.S. imports.

National Pork Producers Council spokesman Dave Warner says Congress needs to act immediately to avoid retaliation from Canada and Mexico.

“There’s no time to do anything other than repeal the offending parts of the law—and if that means repealing the entire COOL law, so be it,” Warner says. “We cannot afford—and when I say ‘we’, (I mean) the U.S. pork industry, but also the whole U.S. economy—we cannot afford trade retaliation from two of our top three export markets.”

House Agriculture Committee chairman Mike Conaway of Texas says he will introduce a bill this week to repeal COOL.  He promises to move quickly on the legislation.  However, House Ag Committee ranking member Colin Peterson says he will oppose efforts to fully repeal COOL.  The Minnesota Democrat says there are still several steps in the process before any retaliation could go into effect so thoughtful consideration should go into how to move forward.

Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas hasn’t committed to total repeal of the law.  He says his committee would explore all options to make the rule WTO-compliant and avoid retaliation from Canada and Mexico.

AUDIO: Dave Warner, NPPC