Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa made the following comment after a World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel determined that the revised rule released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) violates rules under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
COOL was included in the 2002 farm bill, but was delayed for several years before finally being implemented in March 2009. In 2011, a WTO compliance panel found that some aspects of COOL discriminated against foreign livestock, specifically from Mexico and Canada. In May 2013, USDA released an updated COOL rule reflecting the initial WTO ruling, which was again challenged be Mexico and Canada, and is what was most recently found to violate WTO rules.
“I’m a supporter of Country of Origin Labeling. People, now more than ever, want to know where their food comes from. We know where our T-shirts come from. We should know where our meat comes from. After two negative findings from the WTO, with the second WTO ruling saying that the revised rule from the U.S. Department of Agriculture was actually worse than the original rule, it’s likely time for Congress to go back to the drawing board. Country of Origin Labeling needs to be written and implemented clear of any trade distorting principles. As a member of the world trading community, we have an obligation to be trade compliant, even if we disagree with the rulings.”
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