The World Trade Organization (WTO) has rejected the United States' appeal of the international body's October ruling against meat labeling that Canada and Mexico say is too costly for their livestock producers.
The WTO Appellate Body's decision contained in a report issued on Monday allows Canada and Mexico to impose tariffs on American meat if the U.S. refuses to comply with the WTO ruling to do away with the U.S. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) regulation.
Since the U.S. Department of Agriculture imposed the regulation in 2008, Canada's livestock industry has incurred more than $1 billion in losses a year due to price declines, lost sales and added costs, Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart said in a press release on Monday.
"COOL does not address the best interest of the public and it unfairly discriminates against Canadian cattle and hog exports," Stewart said, according to the press release.
He called on the U.S. to comply with the WTO ruling.
The WTO Appellate Body sided with Canada and Mexico, which complained that the COOL increases the record-keeping burden for imported livestock, thus affecting the competitiveness of producers and processors.
Under the COOL program, any foreign beef or pork sold in stores must have a label indicating where it came from and where it was slaughtered. COOL is required for unprocessed beef, pork, poultry, lamb, goat, venison, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, some nuts and seafood, according to the consumer rights group Food and Water Watch.
The Saskatchewan government complained that such labeling makes Americans less likely to buy Canadian meat.
Cattle and hog producers in the province will benefit if the U.S. becomes trade compliant, Stewart said.
Saskatchewan's 2.9 million heads of cattle is the second largest in Canada. The province sells around 2.1 million hogs every year.
WTO's latest ruling against COOL was the fourth since June 2012, when Canada first disputed it. The WTO ruled in favor of Canada that year and again in October 2014, and the U.S. appealed, resulting in the panel's decision.
The North American Meat Institute welcomed the decision. It is time to repeal COOL, NAMI President and CEO Barry Carpenter, said in a press statement issued on Monday.
"Any action other than repeal invites retaliation from Canada and Mexico that could cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars," Carpenter warned, according to the NAMI press statement. "We look forward to working with Congress to repeal COOL once and for all, so that the United States can comply with its trade obligations, avoid unnecessary retaliation against our products and restore our strong relationships with important trading partners."
The FWW protested the WTO decision.
"People have the right to know where the food they feed their families comes from. It is nonsensical that a label that lets consumers know the origin of their food would be considered a trade barrier," FWW Executive Director Wenonah Hauter said in a statement.
Hauter belied Canada's claim that its livestock exports declined since 2008 because of COOL. She called on President Barack Obama to stand up to the WTO and maintain the existing requirements for COOL.
Bill Bullard of the Billings, Mont.-based Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund supported FWW's position. He cited the findings of a 2015 study by Auburn University Professor C. Robert Taylor that the economic harms claimed by Canada are actually from economic recession, not the labels, according to Missoulian.com.
