Feds Welcome Formation of WTO Panel on COOL Dispute

Oct 04, 2013

Feds Welcome Formation of WTO Panel on COOL Dispute

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

The Canadian government says that it is pleased with the establishment of a World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel on U.S. Country of Origin Labelling (COOL).

“Our Government continues to aggressively lobby the U.S. Government to make a legislative change to finally put an end to mandatory Country of Origin Labelling that hurts producers on both sides of the border,” Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in a release.

Canada had been calling for the WTO to rule on whether the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s May 23 revisions to COOL comply with trade obligations. The panel will decide if the USDA brought its COOL rules into conformity. The Canadian government maintains that the USDA’s amendments to COOL do not meet compliance standards, and instead increase discrimination against Canadian livestock.

Under USDA’s revisions, COOL was expanded and now requires meat products to include more information, including where the meat was born, raised and slaughtered. The tightened rule also forbids commingling of muscle cuts.

Canada is awaiting approval from the WTO before imposing retaliatory tariffs on certain U.S. imports. The dispute resolution could take 15 to 18 months.

Video: A chain harrow is a game changer

Utilizing a rotational grazing method on our farmstead with our sheep helps to let the pasture/paddocks rest. We also just invested in a chain harrow to allow us to drag the paddocks our sheep just left to break up and spread their manure around, dethatch thicker grass areas, and to rough up bare dirt areas to all for a better seed to soil contact if we overseed that paddock. This was our first time really using the chain harrow besides initially testing it out. We are very impressed with the work it did and how and area that was majority dirt, could be roughed up before reseeding.

Did you know we also operate a small business on the homestead. We make homemade, handcrafted soaps, shampoo bars, hair and beard products in addition to offering our pasture raised pork, lamb, and 100% raw honey. You can find out more about our products and ingredients by visiting our website at www.mimiandpoppysplace.com. There you can shop our products and sign up for our monthly newsletter that highlights a soap or ingredient, gives monthly updates about the homestead, and also lists the markets, festivals, and events we’ll be attending that month.