Canada
has fought COOL and twice won trade-dispute victories, forcing the U.S. to
abandon compulsory COOL.
But
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he favours restoring COOL for the meat
industry.
The
lawsuit was brought by the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund,
United Stockgrowers of America, the nation's largest group of independent
cattle producers, and the Cattle Producers of Washington.
"Consumers
understandably want to know where their food comes from," said David Muraskin of
Washington, D.C., an attorney for Public Justice, which filed the lawsuit.
"With
this suit, we're fighting policies that put multinational corporations ahead of
domestic producers and shroud the origins of our food supply in secrecy."
The
lawsuit says the change to drop mandatory COOL violated the nation's Meat Inspection
Act, which required that slaughtered meat from other countries be clearly
marked.
