Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 10/1/13

The meat industry organizations that have made quashing the final country-of-origin labeling rule a top priority have penned a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. They are requesting a delay in the enforcement of that rule, until the WTO rules on Canada's and Mexico's complaint that it does not comply with U.S. obligations under the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

American Association of Meat Processors, American Meat Institute, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Grocers Association, National Pork Producers Council, North American Meat Association and Southwest Meat Association, wrote in part, “The undersigned, along with most WTO experts, believe that the rule is vulnerable to this WTO challenge. … Staying enforcement until the WTO dispute is resolved will reduce the uncertainty that the entire meat supply chain faces in complying with a regulation that likely will be deemed noncompliant with the United States' WTO obligations."

The letter went on to say, "Such a delay will also eliminate imposing the tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in costs that AMS (USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service) calculated would be incurred by the supply chain to comply with a rule that may eventually be scrapped in a relatively short timeframe."
The WTO’s dispute resolution body is expected to take up the complaint as early as late October.

Meanwhile, nine meat organizations continue to pursue their appeal in their lawsuit against USDA over COOL.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.