The U.S. House of Representatives voted late Wednesday, by a vote of 300 to 131, to pass a bill to repeal country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef, pork, and chicken. The bill was introduced by Rep. Michael Conaway (R-TX), following a ruling last month by the World Trade Organization (WTO) rejecting a U.S. appeal of its decision that labels that say where animals were born, raised, and slaughtered are discriminatory against Canada and Mexico. “The program has not worked, and it is time to put this failed experiment behind us once and for all,” Conaway said during the floor debate.
Both Canada and Mexico have threatened retaliatory trade actions and said they would seek WTO permission to impose approximately $3.6 billion in potential tariffs against a variety of U.S. exports, such as beef, pork, cheese, corn, cherries, maple syrup, and chocolate, plus a variety of non-agricultural goods. “The only way for the United States to avoid billions in retaliation by late summer is to ensure legislation repealing country of origin labeling passes the Senate and is signed by the president,” said Canada’s Minister of Agriculture. According to spokesman Andrew Bates from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative the WTO is expected to consider Canada and Mexico’s requests later this month.
The WTO ruled against the labels last year, prompting the U.S. appeal that was again rejected on May 18. This is the WTO’s fourth ruling that COOL discriminates against Canadian and Mexican producers who have found that U.S. slaughter plants restrict their purchase of animals from those countries because they must segregate them during slaughter in order to comply with the labeling rules.
COOL was included in the 2002 and 2008 farm bills at the behest of northern U.S. ranchers. Consumer advocates say COOL helps shoppers know where their food comes from and have called on the U.S. government to negotiate with Canada and Mexico to find labels acceptable to all countries.
The last think American farmers need “is for Congress to sit idly by as international bureaucrats seek to punish them through retaliatory trade policies that could devastate agriculture as well as other industries,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) after the vote.
The Senate has yet to act, but following House passage of the bill, Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) praised the House action, but said he is still taking suggestions for a bill that can pass the Senate. Meanwhile, Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said she does not support the repeal of COOL. She said she wants a bill that will tell consumers what they want to know but that would still satisfy WTO requirements that labeling not discriminate against Canada and Mexican producers.
