NCBA Comments on WTO Ruling on COOL
US - National Cattlemen's Beef Association has accused the US government of prolonging the trade dispute with Canada and Mexico over country of origin labelling and putting the US cattle industry in jeopardy.
2 July 2012
2 minute read
The acusation follows the final ruling by the World Trade Organisation, which was originally released in November last year and appealed on 23 March this year by the US Trade Representative.
NCBA Vice President Bob McCan said: “The World Trade Organisation has been extremely clear that mandatory Country of Origin Labeling is a clear WTO violation. This most recent decision is very similar to the initial ruling made more than seven months ago. Instead of working diligently to bring the United States into WTO compliance, we wasted three months and taxpayer dollars on an appeal process. This did nothing more than jeopardize our strong trade relationship with Canada and Mexico, the two largest importers of US beef. The Obama Administration prolonged an issue that could have been resolved quickly.
“NCBA worked with Canada and Mexico to prevent any retaliatory action that could have occurred from the unfortunate decision made by the US government to appeal the initial ruling.
“Cattlemen deserve a government that fights for and protects our opportunities. We need a government that not only demands WTO compliance of our trade partners but one that ensures the United States is abiding by these same guidelines. We are committed to working with this administration and Congress to find a permanent solution to this issue in order to bring the United States back into compliance. It is absolutely critical that the United States leads by example.”
TheCattleSite News Desk
