An open markets advocate told the National Farmers Union’s political action committee that Donald Trump should make it a goal to re-establish country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef and pork during the upcoming NAFTA negotiations. “Trump is going to renegotiate NAFTA. This is an opportunity to put COOL back into law,” says Barry Lynn, a Senior Fellow at New America, a Washington think tank. He also wants the president to “do a deal with Canada and Mexico to make sure they don’t challenge our rights before the World Trade Organization again.” He was referring to the case brought before the WTO by Canada and Mexico challenging the U.S. labeling law. The panel ruled against COOL, saying it discriminated against Canada and Mexico. Lynn says Congress and the Obama Administration “caved” by giving into the ruling. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative defended the move for several years, but Lynn says if the U.S. had to pay damages to keep the program, they should have done so. The National Farmers Union was a strong supporter of COOL while it was in effect, but they’ve not taken a position on how to get the program going again.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.