Industry News

WTO Sides with Mexico and Canada in Country of Origin Labeling Dispute

June 10, 2011


On May 20, 2011, a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel issued an interim ruling regarding the complaints Canada and Mexico filed at the WTO in response to the United States enforcing a Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law. This law contains requirements for identifying, on their labels, the country of origin of meat products sold in the United States.  Based on the interim report, the preliminary findings are in favor of Mexico and Canada. According to the WTO panel, the U.S. law violates the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Articles 2.1 and 2.2 by discriminating against imports of livestock (and other commodities) in favor of domestic products through COOL law requirements. The panel reportedly cited the fact that this law fails to actually inform consumers of the meat products’ country of origin—its supposed objective. The TBT articles were intended to prevent WTO members from imposing unnecessary obstacles to trade. The final report will be published in September, after which the U.S. will have the chance to appeal. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is expected to appeal the rulings.

 

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