Canada Requests WTO Panel Over US Labeling Rules
07 Oktober 2009 - 7:31PM
Dow Jones News
The Canadian government launched a World Trade Organization
dispute settlement process over the U.S.'s mandatory
country-of-origin labeling, or COOL, law with a request for a WTO
panel Wednesday.
"The U.S. COOL requirements are so onerous that they affect the
ability of our cattle and hog exporters to compete fairly in the
U.S. market," International Trade Minister Stockwell Day said in a
statement. "That is why our government has no choice but to request
a WTO panel."
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in the same statement that
Canadian farmers and ranchers are facing "unfair discrimination"
because of the COOL law. He said Canada is confident it will
succeed in the WTO challenge.
The request for a panel was made after two rounds of WTO
consultations with the U.S. failed to resolve the issue. Day had
said in July that he was optimistic the issue could be resolved
without going to a dispute settlement panel.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Trade Representative
Ron Kirk said they regret that formal consultations failed to
resolve Canada's concerns over COOL.
"We believe that our implementation of COOL provides information
to consumers in a manner consistent with our WTO commitments," they
said in a joint statement. "We hope to continue to work with Canada
to resolve this issue amicably."
The U.S. labeling law requires firms to track and notify
customers of the country of origin of meat and other agricultural
products at each major stage of production, including the retail
level.
The Canadian government said these provisions impose unfair and
unnecessary costs on integrated North American supply chains and
reduces competitiveness in both Canada and the U.S.
"COOL has created confusion and uncertainty for livestock
industries on both sides of the border," it said. But the U.S. says
countries have agreed even from pre-WTO days that country of origin
labeling is legitimate policy, and it's common for other countries
to require goods to state their origin.
The Canadian statement said both countries "continue to have a
close and ongoing dialogue on COOL and other issues."
The U.S. and Canada are each other's largest agricultural
trading partners. Bilateral agricultural trade last year totaled
about C$37 billion.
-By Nirmala Menon, Dow Jones Newswires; 613-237-0668;
nirmala.menon@dowjones.com