The slow economic recovery from recession is to blame for a downturn in U.S. cattle imports, not the requirement to put labels on meat packages that list where cattle, hogs and chickens were born, raised and slaughtered, says a study by an Auburn U economist. So-called country-of-origin labels (COOL) were mandated by the 2008 farm law. Mexico and Canada challenged the labels as a disguised trade barrier, a view endorsed by the World Trade Organization, which ruled against the U.S. rules three times. An appeal of the latest ruling is pending.
The study says the price difference between U.S. and imported cattle narrowed after COOL took effect, that COOL “itself had little if any impact” on the ratio of imported slaughter cattle to domestic cattle, and that COOL did not affect the ratio of imported feeder cattle to domestic cattle put into feedlots for fattening. The study’s conclusions are sharply different from analyses presented to WTO. Meatpackers and the largest cattle and hog groups say COOL should be repealed. Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, which supports COOL, says “Congress should stay the course on COOL.”