The notorious R-CALF organization has struck
again in its decades-long war against Canadian cattlemen.
This time it is leading a coalition trying to
head off Canadian, Mexican and U.S. meat-packing-industry attempts to delay a
new set of mandatory Country or Original Labeling (COOL) regulations.
In the past it has argued for trade barriers,
such as food-safety standards related to BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopahy
or mad cow’s disease) and countervailing duties that decimated the Canadian
beef industry.
The United States District Court for the
District of Columbia has granted court standing to R-CALF USA, Food & Water
Watch, South Dakota Stockgrowers Association and Western Organization of
Resource Councils.
It means they can intervene and defend
mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) from a lawsuit filed by the
meatpacking industry.
“As the largest producer-only trade association
representing the U.S. cattle industry, we will take this opportunity to
aggressively defend COOL for U.S. cattle farmers and ranchers,” said R-CALF USA
CEO Bill Bullard in a news release.
Despite those claims, most farmers consider the
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to be the leading spokesman for about one
million cattle farmers and ranchers. It was formed in 1998, about 100 years
before R-CALF.
