A WTO panel expects to rule by mid-May on whether the United States violates global trade rules with its requirement for packages of beef, pork and poultry to say where the animals were born, raised and slaughtered, said AGCanada.com. WTO has ruled three times against the United States. The latest hearing on the dispute, on Feb. 17, was a U.S. appeal of an adverse WTO verdict on revisions the U.S. made in 2013 to the country-of-origin labeling requirement. The appellate panel said it needs time to complete and circulate its report, but would file it no later than May 18, said AgCanada.com.
Canada and Mexico challenged the initial U.S. labeling rule in 2009 and the revisions in 2013. Each time, they said the labels were a trade barrier in disguise and discouraged U.S. meatpackers from buying imported livestock.
In a visit to his home district, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz told local officials the United States was down to its last chance at WTO, reports the Lloydminister Meridian Booster. It quoted Ritz as saying, “We understand we’ll have an answer for that some time mid-May, so we’re looking towards what they’re going to do to alleviate the segregation and price discrimination that we’re facing in that marketplace. “