Category: World Trade Organization
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Livestock Associations Sue USDA for COOL Rule Repeal
Two livestock trade associations have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging the agency’s 2016 repeal of marking and labeling regulations violates the Meat Inspection Act and the Tariff Act. Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of Am. v. U.S. Dept of Agric., No. 17-0223 (E.D. Wash., filed June 19, 2017).…
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WTO Rules Against U.S. in Tuna Controversy, Awards Mexico $163 Million
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has held that Mexico can impose $163 million in trade sanctions against the United States for enacting tougher “dolphin-safe” requirements on fish caught in a part of the Pacific Ocean used primarily by Mexican fishers. The decades-long dispute began when international conservation efforts pressured countries to protect dolphins, which commonly…
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WTO Refers COOL Dispute to Compliance Panel, Delay Sought for New U.S. Rules
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has reportedly established a compliance panel at the request of Canada and Mexico in an ongoing dispute over the U.S. country-of-origin (COOL) meat labeling rules. Canada’s International Trade Minister Ed Fast and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz applauded the WTO action, saying that the United States must “respect its international trade…
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USDA Issues Revised COOL Rule
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has issued a final rule amending the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations to comply with a World Trade Organization (WTO) appellate ruling that certain provisions relating to muscle cut meat commodities were inconsistent the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), which…
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CRS Releases Report on COOL Labeling and WTO Trade Dispute
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) recently issued a report to explore whether U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed rules on labeling muscle cuts of meats will comply with World Trade Organization (WTO) findings that current country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements discriminate against livestock imports. Titled “Country-of-Origin Labeling for Foods and the WTO Trade Dispute on Meat…
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Arbitrator Orders May 2013 Deadline for U.S. COOL Rules to Comply with WTO Ruling
A World Trade Organization (WTO) arbitrator has determined that the United States must conform its country-of-origin-labeling (COOL) rules in accordance with an earlier ruling by May 23, 2013, finding that 10 months was a reasonable time for implementation. Additional details about the dispute, which involved a challenge brought by Canada and Mexico over 2008 COOL…
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Prop. 37 Debate Heats Up, International Accords Could Be Implicated
According to University of Oklahoma College of Law Professor Drew Kershen, writing for the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics publication Agricultural and Resource Economics, if California voters approve Proposition 37 (Prop. 37) in November 2012, it could be vulnerable to challenge under World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. As Kershen notes, the ballot proposition would “impose…
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WTO Rejects U.S. Appeal in COOL Dispute
The World Trade Organization Appellate Body has partially rejected the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative’s (USTR’s) appeal in a dispute with Canada and Mexico over “country of origin” labeling (COOL) for beef and pork products. After WTO’s Dispute Settlement Panel ruled in November 2011 that specific provisions of the U.S. COOL program provided less…