October 28, 2009
US blocks WTO COOL requests by Canada and Mexico
US has blocked requests by Canada and Mexico for WTO experts to examine new US labelling rules that are hurting the two countries' meat exports.
Canada and Mexico told the WTO's dispute settlement body that US Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) rules were damaging North American trade.
COOL discouraged US retailers, processors, feedlots and producers from buying Canadian livestock and meat. The negative impact on Canadian beef, pork and cattle exporters had been significant, Canada said in a statement to the dispute body.
Canada and the US are each other's biggest agricultural trading partners, with two-way farm trade totalling US$37 billion last year.
Canadian producers said the new US rules, tightened by the Obama administration, were hurting pig and cattle sales. Canada normally exports about C$4 billion (US$3.75 billion) of pigs and cattle to the US.
Mexico also said its exporters were suffering lower prices and uncertainty because of the COOL rules. But the US said it believed the new labelling requirements were in line with WTO rules.
US$1 = C$1.06527 (Oct 28)
