December 18, 2015
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E-Newsletter End of COOL is in sight After many years of seeing little to no progress, it looks as though the US Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) legislation is nearing its end. This morning the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that included a provision to repeal the controversial legislation. A couple of hours after the House vote, the Senate also passed the bill. The dense bill will now go to President Barack Obama who must sign it into law for it to become official. That had not happened as of the writing of this article and the general attitude in the cattle industry was one of
cautious optimism. The sudden movement by the United States to potentially repeal COOL comes on the heels of a Dec. 7 decision by the World Trade Organization that authorized Canada and Mexico to impose tariffs of $1.01 Billion on US imports. In a joint statement issued Dec. 7 by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), Canada Meat Council, National Cattle Feeder’s Association and Canadian Pork Council the organizations said they were pleased with the WTO decision and again called on the US to repeal COOL or face tariffs. “US mandatory Country
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of Origin Labeling has been in effect since 2008. As the arbitrator’s finding shows, in these seven years the cumulative losses for the Canadian beef and pork sectors have been staggering,” the statement said. “At every step of the process, the WTO has repeatedly found that the U.S. is in breach of its WTO obligations. The only revision the U.S. has made, in 2013, increased the negative impact on Canadian farmers and meat processors. “Our patience is exhausted. There is no further negotiation to be done and no compromise is acceptable. Canadian livestock producers and
meat processors expect the U.S. to do nothing less than repeal COOL or face the immediate imposition of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods to the same extent as the damage we have endured.” The WTO decision and renewed threats of retaliation from Canada and Mexico had the desired effect of spurring the US government into action. On Dec. 16 it was announced that language to repeal COOL was included in the massive omnibus bill, which was needed to fund the US government’s activities and avoid a shutdown. In a statement from the Continued to Page 2
Upcoming Events Manitoba Beef Producers Annual General Meeting The 37th Manitoba Beef Producers Annual General Meeting will be held Feb. 4-5 at the Victoria Inn in Brandon. The theme for this year’s AGM is From Our Gate to Your Plate, Understanding the Evolving Customer. For more information on the AGM and how to register, please see page 4