Posted January 13, 2014
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments on Jan. 9 in the case involving the USDA’s most recent Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) rule, according to an article by Feedstuffs available here.
The lawsuit, American Meat Institute, et al. v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, was filed on July 8, 2013, alleging that the COOL final rule violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, violates the Agricultural Marketing Act, and violates the Administrative Procedure Act. The complaint is available here. The District Court Judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction to stop implementation of the final rule on September 11. The memorandum opinion is available here.
Plaintiffs then appealed the denial of the preliminary injunction and moved for an expedited hearing. On October 29, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied plaintiffs motion for an expedited hearing.
The National Farmers Union (NFU), the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association and the Consumer Federation of America are participating in the case as defendants of COOL, according to an Agri-Pulse article available here.
Opponents of COOL argue that the rules will damage U.S. trade relations with the U.S. and Mexico, which are challenging the law, “saying it provides an unfair advantage to U.S. products. Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz in December repeated a threat to seek retaliatory tariffs if the COOL rules aren’t changed.”
Supporters of COOL, including the NFU said the “new labels address concerns at the World Trade Organization by ensuring that consumers have access to clear and accurate information that lets them know the sources of their food.”
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.
For background information on the lawsuit and WTO ruling, recent posts from this blog are available hereand here. For more information on COOL, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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