Canadian Pork Council News
The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) fully supports International Trade Minister Ed Fast and Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Gerry Ritz’s announcement that Canada will seek World Trade Organization (WTO) authorization to impose over $3 billion in retaliatory measures against U.S. exports to Canada.
“I am extremely pleased that the Ministers have moved to seek WTO authorization to impose retaliatory measure against U.S. exports to Canada,” said CPC’s Chair Rick Bergmann. “The pork industry has been engaged in this crucial COOL trade dispute for over five years that included four WTO decisions confirming that COOL discriminates against livestock exports from Canada and Mexico and nearly $3 billion dollars lost when calculating the accumulated cost and damage because of price declines and lost sales.”
On May 18, the WTO released its ruling confirming the compliance panel’s conclusions that the amended U.S.-COOL rules were not in compliance with the WTO's earlier rulings in 2011, 2012 and again in 2014. With the hearings and appeals, the May 18th decision was the fourth time the WTO has confirmed that COOL unfairly discriminates against livestock exports from Canada and Mexico.
“The WTO has affirmed Canada’s pork and beef industries’ right to fair market access several times and we call on the United States to repeal the COOL measures on beef and pork to meet its trade obligations.” add Mr. Bergmann.
CPC’s Executive Director, Martin Rice and Manitoba Pork’s General Manager Andrew Dickson recently participated with Canadian government and livestock industry partners in meetings with U.S. industry representatives in the ongoing effort to see the country-of-origin labelling (COOL) dispute brought to an end and reinforce repeal is the only solution.
The Government of Canada has been extremely helpful during the more than five years CPC has been worked with them in this crucial COOL trade dispute. Warnings by Ministers Ritz and Fast to the U.S. that failure to change the COOL legislation to remove discrimination and eliminate the need to segregate Canadian animals would result in retaliation against U.S. exports to Canada. Today’s action by the government to seek a WTO authorization could enable Canada and Mexico to implement WTO-authorized trade retaliation later this year. Imports from the U.S that could be blocked. include live cattle and hogs; fresh, chilled or frozen beef or pork; bacon, some cheeses, fresh fruits and processed meats; rice; maple syrup; pasta; tomato ketchup; certain sugars; and other non-food items.
The CPC has coordinated with the Government of Canada and the CCA to remove the inequities of the U.S. COOL regime which became mandatory in 2008.
The CPC serves as the national voice for hog producers in Canada. A federation of nine provincial pork industry associations, the organization’s purpose is to play a leadership role in achieving and maintaining a dynamic and prosperous Canadian pork sector.
Source: CPC