U.S. responds to penalty over meat origin labels

Labels that would show consumers the “country of origin” for meat products have been a source of international contention for some time, but the tide is finally turning. According to Reuters, the United States Congress is repealing the label requirements, reversing a measure first enacted six years ago and earning the approval of the Canadian Minister of International Trade.

While the legislation has yet to be finalized, the plan could be a response to industry concerns over how this would affect meat producers. The new announcement reportedly comes after the House of Representatives approved a resolution for meat labels including those for pork and chicken. The possible action also reflects a penalty that could fall on the United States for enforcing the COOL standards, a series of tariffs that would total more than $1 billion in retaliation.

Both Mexico and Canada are part of this effort, though the majority of the penalty, more than $780 million would come from Canada. That country’s Agriculture Minister, Lawrence MacAulay, said retaliation would come if the statute was not repealed.

Another Canadian official, Premier Brad Wall of Sasketchewan, took a more optimistic stance according to CBC News.

“It’s such a complicated legislative process to try to navigate in the interest of any particular outcome,” he said. “This outcome, the repeal of COOL, is what we wanted and you know, we’re not home yet, but we’re really close and so I think this is hopeful.”

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