Ahead of the House vote on repeal of mandatory country-of-origin labels (COOL) on beef, pork and chicken sold in grocery stores, 283 labor, small-farm, environmental and religious groups published a joint letter asking lawmakers to keep the labeling law in force. “Consumers want more information about their food, not less,” said the Consumer Federation of America. R-CALF USA, a cattle-ranchers group, said repeal would “reward the powerful meatpacker lobby” and be a capitulation to threats by Canada and Mexico of retaliatory tariffs. The consumer group Food and Water Watch said, “Congress should stand by American consumers” rather than act before the WTO has completed work on COOL.
The WTO issued a final ruling on May 18 that declared the labels a barrier to meat and livestock from Mexico and Canada. Later this month it will hear requests for sanctions if the United States does not repeal the law; repeal is the ultimate goal of the two U.S. neighbors. The National Farmers Union says the weak economy following the 2008-09 recession is the cause for any slump in meat and livestock trade. COOL became mandatory in 2009. WTO procedures call for a 90-day period to try to resolve requests for retaliation.
Some of the groups signing the letter in support of COOL are supporters of mandatory labeling of foods made with genetically modified organisms.
Canada and Mexico say they will seek $3.7 billion in retaliatory tariffs against U.S. agricultural and manufactured goods. Besides meatpackers and foodmakers, repeal is supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.
The COOL Reform Coalition, composed of business and agricultural groups, circulated its own letter, which warned that retaliatory tariffs could appear soon. “So, it is now critical that Congress enact corrective legislation before adjourning for the August recess,” said the letter.
The letter against repeal of COOL is available here.
A summary and text of HR 2393, to repeal country of origin labeling of beef, pork and chicken, is available here.
The USDA homepage on COOL is available here.