The labeling law was ruled illegal by the World Trade
Organization – twice.
The first time the Americans responded with a “fix” that
Canadians, Mexicans and meat packers in the United States said was even worse
than the original.
It took another few years and millions in legal and
consulting fees to challenge that “fix”.
The U.S. politicians only relented when they faced about $1
billion in punitive tariffs the World Trade Organization said Mexico and Canada
could impose.
The Canadian agriculture and trade ministers have scheduled
a news conference today.
The CBC is reporting that it’s the end of COOL, but the legislation
has yet to pass.
Canadian farmers hired economists to calculate the damage and they say it's more than $1 billion a year. It went on so long that it knocked down both hog and beef production in the highly-competitive North American market.
Most of the damage resulted from lower prices for Canadian cattle and hogs because American packers discounted imports because they faced higher processing costs to keep the imported meat separate for accurate labelling. That, in turn, meant Canadian packers lowered their bid prices, knowing it was unlikely farmers would export to their U.S. competitors.
