Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet is fighting to support explicit labeling of beef and pork sold within the United States, so that Colorado families know the origins of the meat they consume.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Bennet, along with 18 senators, urged them to appeal a recent panel ruling at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The panel affirmed that the United States is within its rights to administer the COOL program. However, the ruling also stated that the manner in which the program has been implemented discriminates against meats imported from abroad.
In addition to an appeal of the WTO ruling, Bennet also called on Vilsack and Kirk to work to ensure that the U.S. COOL program both meets our international trade obligations and continues to provide important information to consumers.
“As you are aware, included in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill) was a common sense plan for implementing a food labeling program to provide consumers with information about the origins of the food they purchase,” the Senators wrote in the letter. “It was the intention of Congress in developing this provision that such labeling would be nondiscriminatory in its treatment of imported products by requiring the labeling of both domestic as well as imported products. We request that your agencies take appropriate actions to appeal the DSP’s ruling and to work to ensure that our COOL program both meets our international trade obligations while continuing to provide such information to consumers.”
Full text of the letter is included below.
Dear Secretary Vilsack and Ambassador Kirk:
We write regarding the November 18, 2011, World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Panel (DSP) finding affirming arguments made by Canada and Mexico over the implementation of the United States Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law. The DSP validated the statutory authority for the United States to require such labeling; however, the panel also found that the manner in which the program was implemented treats cattle and hogs from those countries less favorably than U.S.-origin livestock. While we are pleased that the DSP affirmed our right to require such labeling, we are concerned about the impact that the DSP’s ruling will have on our ability to continue providing such information to consumers.
As you are aware, included in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill) was a common sense plan for implementing a food labeling program to provide consumers with information about the origins of the food they purchase. It was the intention of Congress in developing this provision that such labeling would be nondiscriminatory in its treatment of imported products by requiring the labeling of both domestic as well as imported products.
With that goal in mind, we appreciate the thoughtful rulemaking process undertaken by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) of USDA in developing the rule implementing COOL. While we believe that improvements should have been made to the final rule, we believe that it appropriately establishes a labeling system which provides important and useful information to consumers while not placing an undue burden on the industry. Additionally, we believe that the labeling system continues to provide the same opportunity for imported livestock to compete in the domestic marketplace as was the case prior to USDA’s implementation of COOL.
We appreciate the work you have done in defending both the COOL statute and its implementation before the WTO’s dispute settlement proceedings. As you know, many of our major trading partners, including Canada and Mexico, themselves impose their own country of origin labeling requirements for imported meats. As such, it is clear that it is within our authority under our WTO obligations to implement such a program.
We request that your agencies take appropriate actions to appeal the DSP’s ruling and to work to ensure that our COOL program both meets our international trade obligations while continuing to provide such information to consumers. We appreciate your attention to this matter, and we look forward to working with you moving forward.