Canada Holds Fire on New U.S. Meat Labeling Rules

(Reuters – Louise Egan)

Canada's agriculture minister said on Wednesday he sees no reason at this time to revive a trade challenge against the United States over its new meat labeling rules. "Right now, they've gone with what we're asking for," Gerry Ritz told reporters.

Ritz later clarified that he was concerned, however, by new voluntary labeling guidelines issued by Washington, which have been a source of confusion for industry players as they await implementation of the new rules as of March 16.

The rule requiring more explicit labels on meat sold in U.S. grocery stores initially sparked a complaint by Ottawa at the World Trade Organization because it viewed the policy as unfair to the Canadian livestock industry. Ottawa agreed in January to put that complaint on hold after Washington made the rules more flexible in the final days of the Bush administration.

However, the Obama administration gave the rule a second look and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has asked the U.S. industry to add the extra information voluntarily to labels. He warned he may rewrite the rule to enforce the changes if industry does not comply on a voluntary basis. Read more here.