REGINA – It will be a merrier Christmas for Canadian cattle producers, after the U.S. Congress repealed Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) legislation on Friday.
The Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association (SCA) said they are happy with the decision, but there is still concern about what it means for them.
“Now we’re watching closely to see what it’ll mean and how it’ll unfold,” said SCA CEO Ryder Lee on Monday.
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“The rule has changed, but there’s a lot of buyers that had said no to Canadian cattle or feeders for a long time. So how quick are they going to get back into the market?” he explained.
RELATED: Meat labelling law repealed by U.S. Congress after Canada threatens retaliation
Introduced in 2008, COOL told American consumers where their meat came from. However Canadian producers said the rules were protectionists.
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Some American plants wouldn’t accept foreign beef and pork due to the added cost of having to separately process the animals.
American plants that accepted Canadian animals usually would only take them once a week.
“Hopefully in January we’ll see some of those plants, some of those operations that were one day a week Canadian being whenever they want,” said Lee.
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