The World Trade Organization ruling on U.S. meat-origin labels could be public in “weeks, if not days” in the words of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, says Feedstuffs. Canada and Mexico challenged the so-called country-of-origin label rules last year. They won an earlier case against U.S. rules as a trade barrier in disguise. The current version require labels to list the country where meat animals were born, raised and slaughtered. There were reports, based on unnamed sources, in late August that WTO had decided against the United States but they were not confirmed.
“An adverse ruling could once again prompt Mexico and Canada to seek retaliatory sanctions on imports of U.S. products. Canadian officials have made it clear in recent months they plan to seek that approach if the Obama administration doesn’t drop COOL,” said DTN. It added, “The ruling will come ‘relatively soon,’ Vilsack said, ‘a matter of weeks, if not days.'”