Saskatchewan pleased with meat labelling ruling

REGINA – Canada has won an important battle in an ongoing trade dispute with the United States over meat labeling laws, and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is very happy.

The World Trade Organization has ruled that U.S. country-of-origin labelling (COOL) rules discriminate against exports from Canada and Mexico.

The rules, which went into effect in 2008 and were updated last year, are blamed by the Canadian beef industry for reducing meat exports to the U.S. by half.

“The latest WTO ruling once again confirms that the U.S. mandatory COOL rules unfairly discriminate against Canadian cattle and hog exports,” Wall said.

“COOL is a protectionist measure that hurts producers and negatively affects the entire supply chain on both sides of the border and it should be scrapped.”

COOL was preventing U.S. processors from co-mingling U.S. beef and pork with meat from Canadian cattle and hogs. Processers had to segregate livestock, which added higher costs for companies using livestock born or raised outside of the U.S.

Consumers were also impacted through higher costs for meat.

“The ruling released today is a positive step for Saskatchewan cattle and hog producers,” Wall said.

“While the U.S. may appeal this decision, we strongly urge the U.S. Congress to repeal COOL for beef and pork or make a legislative fix which would remove the arbitrary unjustifiable discrimination and damages against Canadian cattle and hogs that is in the current legislation.”

Saskatchewan’s cattle herd is the second largest in the country at nearly 2.9 million, and the province also markets around 2.1 million hogs every year.

With files from The Canadian Press