Posted March 3, 2014
 
A World Trade Organization (WTO) panel is expected to issue a confidential interim report on June 20 in the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) dispute between the United States, Canada, and Mexico, according to a Wall Street Journal article available here.
 
The panel recently heard oral arguments from the respective governments.  A post from this blog on the hearing is available here.
 
The dispute began in 2008, when Canada and Mexico “first challenged the measure as being discriminatory against their own livestock industries.” 
 
The U.S. lost an appeal brought by Canada and Mexico in 2012, when the WTO Appellate Body found that COOL regulations violated trade agreements by giving less favorable treatment to Canadian cattle and hogs.  The rule was, then, revised.
 
The COOL final rule, available here, became effective on May 23, 2013 and modified certain provisions of the COOL regulations after the World Trade Organization (WTO) found that aspects of the regulations violated U.S. trade obligations.  The final rule requires labels on certain cuts of meat, to provide information on where it was born, raised, and slaughtered. 
 
Additional information on the WTO case is available here.

 

For more information on COOL, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
 
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