Meat labelling export barrier could return

Leaked memo suggests COOL would be part of Trump trade agenda

Country-of-origin labelling, the U.S. law that was a thorn in the side of Canadian cattle and hog producers for years and finally repealed last year, could be resurrected under a Donald Trump presidency, a leaked memo suggests.

The memo — drafted by the president-elect’s transition team and obtained by CNN — lays out priorities of Trump’s trade policy for the first 200 days of his presidency. It states Trump would begin reforming the North American Free Trade Agreement immediately, and intends to notify both Mexico and Canada about proposed amendments to the treaty that could include measures on, among other things, softwood lumber and country-of-origin labelling.

Country-of-origin labelling, or COOL, was repealed by U.S. legislators in December 2015, after the World Trade Organization granted Canada and Mexico the right to impose $1 billion in punitive tariffs on various U.S. products. The WTO sided with Canada and Mexico in the long-running trade dispute, agreeing with the two countries’ argument that COOL — which required all meat products sold in the U.S. to clearly state on the package where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered — violated international trade rules.

COOL’s repeal was a major victory for Canada’s beef and pork industries, which had said they were losing $1 billion annually due to the increased processing and handling costs required under the law. But John Masswohl, director of government and international relations for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, said he is not especially worried by the suggestion the law might be about to come back from the dead in a new form.

“We’ve always expected the COOL issue would be coming back at some point,” Masswohl said. “When the law was repealed, there were some congressmen and senators, including some Republicans, who said, ‘Yeah, sure, we’ll vote for this repeal, but in the next Congress we expect to replace it with something.’ “

While there is no doubt certain farm groups south of the border have a protectionist stance and supported COOL for that reason, Masswohl said, other industry organizations — as well as many politicians — recognized the damage the law caused to trading relationships and were opposed to

We’ll see it coming from miles out, and we’ll have the opportunity to influence what gets developed.

it. He said Canada will be able to lean on those allies if the Trump administration tries to bring back a form of the law that discriminates against Canadian product.

“Nothing is going to materialize quickly. We’ll see it coming from miles out, and we’ll have the opportunity to influence what gets developed,” he said.

In addition, Canada still retains the authorization to impose retaliatory tariffs, Masswohl said. It could move to enact them very quickly without having to go through the lengthy WTO process for permission first.

“If they start to talk about producing something that is going to reinstate the discrimination, our advice to the Government of Canada is going to be to put those retaliatory tariffs in place immediately,” Masswohl said.