Canada’s fight against U.S. country of origin labeling rules for meat highlights an inconsistency in the Canadian position on the treatment of foreign agricultural products, say two organizations representing American wheat growers and industry. U.S. Wheat Associates and the National Association of Wheat Growers sent a letter to Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and International Trade… Read More

When Canada’s agriculture and trade ministers — as everybody expected following the World Trade Organization’s latest ruling against U.S. country of origin labeling — promised to retaliate unless the labeling rules are repealed, virtually all Canadian livestock producer groups and provincial governments who benefit from cross-border cattle and hog trade applauded the federal government’s swift action. With one… Read More

Update on May 20th: The U.S. House Agriculture Committee, as expected, approved Chair Michael Conoway’s bill to repeal COOL on Wednesday morning by a vote of 38-6. It’s expected the entire House will vote on it in early June. The final ruling from the World Trade Organization against U.S. mandatory country of origin labeling and the threat… Read More

The World Trade Organization has once again sided with Canada and Mexico, as the WTO Appellate Body published a fourth and final ruling on U.S. country of origin labeling rules today. The appeal panel decision affirmed earlier rulings saying COOL illegally discriminates against foreign livestock (read the report and findings here). “The United States has used and… Read More

Just weeks before the World Trade Organization rules on the U.S. government’s final appeal to maintain mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) rules, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a report to the House and Senate agriculture committees on Friday saying the meat labeling laws have little, if any, measurable economic benefit. The USDA’s economic analysis of… Read More

Officials from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. were in Geneva this week for World Trade Organization appeal hearings on U.S. country of origin labelling (COOL) law. In the podcast below, John Masswohl of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Kelvin Heppner discuss what happens next in the dragged-out COOL dispute resolution process, including when Canada could be in… Read More

From new developments in Canada’s latest case of BSE to the need for more investment in rail infrastructure, here’s a quick audio snapshot of this week’s ag news — the TWORA podcast for February 19th, 2015: Mentions: CFIA Investigation Unveils Birthdate of Alberta BSE Case Corn School: My Standing Corn is Turning Black — Is it… Read More