The Canadian Cattlemen's Association is pleased the World Trade Organization has created a Dispute Settlement Panel to rule on the mandatory Country-of-Origin Labelling (mCOOL) law initiated by the American government.
CCA officials admit the WTO process will take a long time, but they believe there is no other option to dealing with their concerns.
“We’ve been to Washington several times and sense no interest from U.S. lawmakers to resolve this issue, which is unfortunate since Canada is the U.S.’ best customer and top buyer of agricultural exports. Obtaining a panel ruling from the WTO may motivate U.S. lawmakers to resolve this problem," explained CCA Vice President and Foreign Trade Chairman Travis Toews.
CCA officials argue that since mCOOL came into effect over one year ago, Canadian cattle producers have lost over $250 million in lower cattle prices and increased costs.
"At a time when economic conditions make it difficult for people to buy as much beef as they normally do, along came mCOOL to really make things worse. We appreciate the Minister of Agriculture, Gerry Ritz, and the Minister of International Trade, Stockwell Day, for agreeing to request the Dispute Settlement Panel at the WTO,” stated CCA President Brad Wildeman.
mCOOL legislation requires beef and other meats sold in the U.S. to be labeled with the country where the animal was born. The CCA notes that U.S. consumers have not demonstrated an aversion to Canadian beef. Rather, the majority of the impact has been from large commercial meat purchasers and cattle buyers adopting strategies to avoid the extra costs that result from separately managing meat from Canadian-born cattle versus U.S.-born cattle. The American companies who continue to purchase Canadian cattle have reduced their price to cover the extra cost of managing the different inventories.
“Once our Canadian beef gets to U.S. store shelves, it sells just fine. But mCOOL ensures that beef from Canadian cattle faces difficulties just making it to those shelves," Wildeman said.
