Kansas Republican Pat Roberts is chairman of the Senate
Agriculture Committee and his amendment mirrors action in the House of
Representatives to cancel COOL.
Stabenow, who represents voters in Michigan, not only
proposed keeping COOL as a voluntary program, but also would retain mandatory
COOL for sheep.
Canada has battled COOL for seven years, winning four
decisive victories at the World Trade Organization.
If the U.S. does not drop COOL now, Ritz and Fast say they
will move ahead with a request to the
World Trade Organization to punish the U.S. with tariffs on about $3.5 billion
worth of their exports to Canada.
The World Trade Organization has issued rulings on beef and
pork for Canada and Mexico, but not for sheep.