Country-of-origin labeling policy slowing livestock imports from Canada
Between 2008 and 2013, exports of nondairy cattle from Canada to the United States for feeding or slaughter declined by one-third (see table). Over that same time period, Canadian hog exports declined by nearly half. Slaughterhouses and feeding facilities have been affected as well.
The current U.S. requirements force meatpackers to discriminate against foreign animals, the WTO panel found, and prevent Canadian and Mexican producers from selling their animals in the United States. The United States could appeal the WTO ruling, and congressional changes to the labeling rules are also possible.
But as it stands now, the United States could face WTO-approved trade sanctions from Canada and Mexico, with countervailing duties potentially impacting U.S. producers of meat, cheese, wine and other goods. COOL was initiated as a way not only to promote American-grown products, but also to inform people about where their food comes from.
“Regarding food safety, labeling is an important tool for consumers to evaluate the quality of the products they buy,” South Dakota state Rep. Lance Russell says.
Under current federal rules, country-of-origin labeling must include information on each step of the production process —where the animal was born, where it was raised and where it was slaughtered. So the labeling for an animal that spent its entire time in the United States would now read “Born, Raised and Slaughtered in the U.S.”
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 Stateline Midwest ~ December 2014 | 1.55 MB |
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