Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz fired a $1-billion-a-year
threat in trade retaliation when he talked to reporters about the current
United States proposals on County-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations for
pork and beef.
Ritz told reporters after he met with U.S. Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack in Washington that Canada will seek permission from the
World Trade Organization to levy up to $1 billion in trade retaliation if the
U.S. fails to meet the WTO deadline of May 23 to drop its discriminatory COOL
regulations.
Frankly, I don't think it's the smartest thing to publicly threaten the U.S.
Canada’s hog and cattle farmers have had prices for their
livestock reduced by the U.S. regulations because U.S. packers won’t bid as
much for the Canadian animals.
That’s because it’s challenging and costly for them to keep
the meat separate for labeling and marketing.
Many U.S. packers simply stopped buying Canadian livestock,
including hogs that were born in Canada, but raised on U.S. farms.
The current U.S. proposals in response to the WTO ruling is
to require more detailed labeling for both U.S. and foreign-content meats. The
U.S. is likely to argue that its proposals level the playing field, but the
impact on Canadian farmers will be even greater than the current system that
has been ruled illegal by the WTO.
Ritz and Vilsack discussed COOL when they met, but Ritz told
reporters later that “I’m not holding my breath, but I’m hopeful” that the U.S.
will change its COOL regulations in ways that end the price discimination
against livestock with any Canadian content.
Mexico is also involved in the WTO challenge and decision.
