Minister Ritz Responds to U.S. Department of Agriculture Ruling on Mandatory Country-Of-Origin Labeling

(Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada)

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz today [Wednesday] responded to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently published rule regarding the implementation of the mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL).

“The Government of Canada is disappointed with the U.S. COOL legislation, and remains concerned that it may discriminate against Canadian products,” said Minister Ritz. “We will analyze the recently released rule to determine the economic impacts on integrated North American markets”.

The U.S. Congress passed the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 U.S. Farm Bill) in June. This legislation requires the mandatory COOL rule for beef, lamb, pork, chicken and goat meat, along with perishable agricultural commodities, peanuts, pecans, ginseng and macadamia nuts, to be implemented by September 30, 2008.

The implementation of the COOL rule for food products has happened in stages. Implementation for fish and shellfish was effective April 4, 2005. However, implementation for all other commodities was delayed until September 2008.

Since the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, and then the North American Free Trade Agreement, trade between Canada and the U.S. has tripled. Eliminating obstacles to trade has contributed to mutually-beneficial supply chains, making both countries more competitive domestically and internationally. The Government of Canada understands that this new rule could have an impact on highly integrated sectors like the beef and pork sectors.

“The Government of Canada will continue to work with industry and the provinces and territories to minimize any impact on Canadian farmers and ranchers,” said Minister Ritz. “Should the implementation of the rule result in undue restrictions on the exportation of any products or animal from Canada, the Government will have to consider its options.”

As it did in 2003, 2005 and 2007, the Government of Canada will submit comments to the U.S. Federal Register, outlining its views on the rule.