Congress will have to resolve the international snarl over U.S requirements for labels on beef, pork and chicken meat that identify where the animals were born, raised and slaughtered, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. U.S. law requires the so-called country of origin labels (COOL) but the World Trade Organization has ruled three times that U.S. regulations discriminate against Canada and Mexico. The latest ruling, on Oct 20, is under appeal with a decision possible by mid-March. Vilsack said USDA cannot solve the conflict through regulatory revisions.
“We’re stuck. We need congressional action,” Vilsack said at the Farm Journal Forum. “They need to convince me they’ve got the votes to do something. They’ve been given opportunities on a couple of occasions but they have yet to solve the problem.” The $1 trillion government funding bill calls on USDA by May 1 to recommend what to do on COOL. “They don’t try to solve the problem. They make me report back to them how they can solve the problem.”
COOL has been controversial for a decade. Meatpackers and the largest cattle and pork groups hoped to repeal COOL as part of the 2014 farm law negotiations but were thwarted by Senate opposition.
The COOL Reform Coalition has called for Congress “to amend the current statute to include a contingency plan” in case of a final WTO decision against the United States. A fall-back plan would avert up to $2 billion in retaliatory tariffs by Canada and Mexico, said the group, composed of foodmakers, manufacturers and exporters.