Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 12/15/14

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said it will take congressional action to revise country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law, according to a report by Chuck Abbott for the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

The $1 trillion spending package passed Thursday by the House requires USDA to recommend action on COOL, which has repeatedly been shot down by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“We’re stuck. We need congressional action,” Vilsack is quoted as saying at the Farm Journal Forum in Washington D.C. “They need to convince me they’ve got the votes to do something. They’ve been giving opportunities on a couple of occasions, but they have yet to solve the problem. They don’t try to solve the problem. They make me report back to them how they can solve the problem.”

In its latest ruling in October, WTO ruled again that COOL discriminates against Canadian and Mexican livestock.
The U.S. has appealed the decision.

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