By Rep. K. Michael Conaway Via Roll Call The World Trade Organization ruled against the U.S. for the fourth and final time in an ongoing dispute between the United States, Canada and Mexico regarding the U.S. country of origin labeling (COOL) program. Retaliation by Canada and Mexico will soon become a reality, meaning economically devastating tariffs on a broad spectrum of U.S. exports, from meat... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body ruled against the United States’ Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements for meat, upholding the compliance panel’s report in finding against the United States. House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) issued the following statement upon the WTO’s announcement. “Once again, the WTO has found ... Read more »
Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) is a failed government mandate with serious economic implications. Should the World Trade Organization(WTO) rule against the United States for the 4th time in the coming days, Canada and Mexico will be authorized to seek retaliation against the U.S. by imposing economically devastating tariffs on U.S. exports. Supporters of COOL rely on misinformation an... Read more »
The World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body will soon rule on Canada and Mexico’s case against the U.S. on the mandatory Country of Origin Label (COOL) requirement on muscle cuts of beef and pork.This is the fourth and final decision by the WTO, and in the three previous decisions it has ruled against the U.S. COOL law. If the U.S. loses this case, Canada and Mexico have indicated their inte... Read more »
In the coming days, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is expected to release its fourth and final decision on the U.S. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) rule and announce if the United States has been found compliant with trade standards. Should the U.S. lose this appeal, Congress will need to be ready to avoid retaliation from Canada and Mexico, our top two export markets. Here are 10 things you... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) rejected the latest recommendation to establish a generic mandatory label option, an option typically referred to as a “Product of North America” label, should the U.S. lose its World Trade Organization (WTO) appeal regarding country of origin labeling (COOL) in the coming weeks. Earlier today, the Department ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee, held a public hearing to examine the implications of potential retaliatory measures against the United States in response to its country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements for beef and pork. In 2002, Congress initially adopted a country-of-origin lab... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Thank you, Chairman Rouzer and Ranking Member Costa, for holding this important hearing. Thank you, also to all of our witnesses for taking your time to be here today and helping us understand the consequences we face if we fail to act and the WTO appellate body ultimately finds against the United States as the previous panels have. The debate surrounding mandator... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: Good morning. I would like to start by quickly thanking Mr. Bryan Blinson for attending today’s hearing. Mr. Blinson serves as the Executive Director for the North Carolina Cattlemen’s Association. We are happy to have him join us today and appreciate all his hard work on behalf of North Carolina’s cattlemen. As we have all observed, the United States is fortunate... Read more »
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte today introduced voluntary country-of-origin labeling (V-COOL) legislation, H.R. 2068, for the domestic meat industry. Goodlatte introduced the legislation with 33 cosponsors and comes in response to mandatory provisions in the 2002 Farm Bill requiring retailers to inform consumers of the country-of-origin at the final point of sale for covered co... Read more »
