Mexico
US appeals court rejects re-hearing of challenge to COOL
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia refused to re-hear a meatpacker lawsuit challenging USDA's country-of-origin meat-labeling rules, said Feedstuffs.
Bakers protest, growers applaud US-Mexico sugar deal
The American Bakers Association says a tentative U.S.-Mexico agreement to control imports of sugar from Mexico "is not good for bakers or all other users of sugar," says Baking Business.
Appeal and negotiate on COOL, don’t repeal it, say backers
The United States should appeal an adverse WTO ruling on country-of-origin labels on beef, pork and chicken meat, said four farm and consumer groups.
WTO again says U.S. meat-orgin labels distort world trade
For the second time, the World Trade Organization ruled U.S. meat-origin labels are a violation of global trade rules. The ruling, which can be appealed, opens the door to retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods if the regulations are not modified. Appeals generally are not successful at this stage at WTO but they can delay an adverse decision for a couple of months.
Ruling on COOL is “weeks, if not days” from announcement
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.
Keep your COOL, senators ask Appropriations Committee
The World Trade Organization is unlikely to rule until "well into 2015" on U.S. meat-labeling rules, say 32 senators in a letter arguing against unilateral surrender in the dispute with Canada and Mexico.
US farm law turns toward protectionism, analyst says
Parts of the 2014 farm law "send a message to trading partners that U.S. agriculture is becoming more protectionist," writes UC-Davis economics professor Colin Carter in Choices, the journal of agricultural economics.
US decides to impose duties on sugar from Mexico
The Commerce Department says it will impose countervailing duties of 3-17 percent on sugar imported from Mexico following a preliminary ruling that Mexico unfairly subsidized its producers, said the Financial Times.
WTO rules against US meat-label rules for second time
The World Trade Organization has ruled in favor of Canada and Mexico in the six-year-old dispute over U.S. rules that require packages of beef, pork and poultry to carry labels saying where the meat was produced, says the Wall Street Journal.
USDA proposes rules for pork imports from Mexico
The Agriculture Department proposed a regulation to allow import of pork and pork products from "a low-risk classical swine fever region in Mexico" and set a 60-day comment period on it. Swine fever, also called hog cholera, is a highly contagious viral disease among pig but does not cause foodborne illness among humans. It was eradicated in the United States in 1978, says a USDA fact sheet
Wheat breeder, a Borlaug colleague, wins World Food Prize
Sanjaya Rajaram, who worked with Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug and developed 480 wheat varieties, is the winner of the $250,000 World Food Prize for 2014.
Foes try to de-fang meat-labeling law in USDA bill
Foes hope to shorten the lifetime of the country-of-origin meat labeling law with help of the Agriculture Department funding bill pending in the House.
Higher corn, wheat, soy prices mean record U.S. farm exports
U.S. farm exports will hit a record $149.5 billion in the year ending on Sept 30, up 5 percent from the previous estimate due to higher corn, wheat and soybean prices as well as larger export tonnage, said USDA in a quarterly report. The record now is $140.9 billion, set in fiscal 2013.
Canada says US will ride COOL “right to the bottom”
The United States will not change its meat-labeling regime before an expected World Trade Organization ruling in July, Canadian Agriculture Minister Gary Ritz told reporters following a meeting of farm ministers from Mexico, Canada and the United States, says Country Guide. Ritz said he told Ag Secretary Vilsack that Canada is ready to retaliate over the U.S. country-of-origin labeling rules.
Mexico, Canada and US vow fair and open ag trade
The agriculture ministers of the three giant nations of North America met in Mexico City and issued a statement "to reaffirm the benefits of fair and open trade for our economies and food security...From Mexico City, to Washington, to Ottawa, we will continue to show the world how trade and open borders support economic growth and jobs."
Appellate court to hear mandatory meat-label case
The U.S. Court of Appeals in DC is scheduled to hear arguments today over USDA regulations that require cuts of beef, pork and poultry meat to carry labels saying where the meat was born, raised and slaughtered, says Feedstuffs. It's the latest hearing for a case that began July 2013.
Mexican apple growers decry U.S. imports
At the same time U.S. sugar growers launched a trade challenge against sugar imported from Mexico, apple growers in Mexico say they are being put out of business by U.S. apples. Growers attempted to get the government to cut off the imports and a senator accused the United States of dumping apples on Mexico, says Public Radio International in a story produced in partnership with FERN, the Food and Environment Reporting Network.
U.S. will investigate sugar imports from Mexico
The Commerce Department announced it will open an investigation into charges that Mexico is dumping subsidized sugar in the United States
Mexico to displace China as top corn importer
China will remain the leading importer of soybeans and cotton, but Mexico will be the world's largest corn importer for the rest of this decade, said the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute. The United States would be the top corn exporter despite increased competition from Brazil, said the University of Missouri think tank in updating its international marketing baseline.