Canada beef sector calls on gov't to file WTO complaint against US
The final US Country-of-Origin-Labelling (COOL) rule, which takes effect March 16, has antagonised the Canadian beef producers who now urge their government to resume their WTO challenge against the US.
The final COOL ruling will force all US meat companies to label beef with a sticker that states where the product came from, the Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA) said Tuesday (Feb 24).
Some companies have already stopped buying Canadian beef and cattle due to the extra cost of meeting an interim version of the trade rule introduced in September, and the final rule will be more costly and difficult, CCA President Brad Wildeman said.
The Canadian government must take all available actions against these US trade restrictive and protectionist actions which will harm Canada's beef industry, Wildeman said.
Canada filed a WTO challenge in December against the US over the rule, but withheld it last month when it appeared that Washington will ease the regulations. Mexico, however, had decided to go ahead with the complaint and will have consultations at WTO on February 26.
The USDA told American meat companies that Washington will make the new rule mandatory if they do not comply voluntarily.
Under COOL, US meat processors must label products to show where the animal was born and raised, if it was born and raised in one country but slaughtered in another, or if it was born in one country but raised and slaughtered in another, Wildeman said.
Canadian livestock must be segregated in US feedlots and packing plants. Cattle must have tags that indicate they are free of mad cow disease. Such measures cut into already thin profit margins.
Wildeman said USDA's latest action increases the obvious US violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and that the US has no intention of creating a workable solution for the industry.
The CCA estimates the rule is already costing the US$4 billion Canadian beef industry about US$1 million per day in losses.
