January 14, 2009

Canada will suspend its complaint with the World Trade Organization regarding US regulations that require meat to be labelled with its country of origin, the agriculture minister said Tuesday (January 14).

Ottawa's announcement came after negotiations resulted in relaxed labelling standards, known as country-of-origin labelling, also known as COOL (country-of-origin-labelling), Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz told reporters on a conference call.

"We will shelve our concern at this point but we will continue to assess the impact of COOL as it moves along," Ritz said.

The new standard "recognizes the reality of the integrated North American livestock industry," by allowing for combined US-Canada labelling, he said of the changes made public earlier this week. "The final rule provides more flexibility on labelling requirements in the US for meat from animals of both Canadian and American origin."

Ottawa began talks with the US in December on the issue, which Canada said was costing extra and unfair amounts to Canadian beef and pork exporters whose main client is the US.

Canada's exports of pork and beef to the US total an estimated US$4 billion per year.