Ongoing country-of-origin labelling dispute
Canada is gearing up to retaliate against the United States after its third victory in the ongoing country-of-origin labelling dispute.
“We will target everything from California wine to Minnesota mattresses, not to mention the over $2 billion in U.S. beef and pork sales to Canada,” said federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz.
The World Trade Organization ruled that U.S. amendments to the COOL regulation continue to discriminate against live imports of cattle and hogs into the U.S. marketplace.
COOL was implemented in 2008. On May 23, 2013, the U.S. revised the regulation in an attempt to come into compliance with the WTO.
Canadian livestock and meat producers said the amendments only made matters worse and the WTO agreed.
The third WTO victory for Canada paves the way for retaliation against the U.S., although that will not happen immediately.
The U.S. has 30 days to appeal the decision, during which Canada will be very vocal about how it intends to punish the U.S. for its transgressions.
“We will use the same time frame to completely lay out, state-by-state, legislator-by-legislator, what it’s going to cost them as they move into their next election cycle,” Ritz told reporters.