House Votes to Repeal COOL Labeling

On Wednesday, June 10, 2015, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act of 2015 (COOL). The bill, H.R. 2393, was introduced on May 18, 2015, by Rep. Michael Conaway (R-TX) and amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to repeal existing final point of sale country-of-origin labeling requirements for retailers of beef, pork, and chicken. It passed with a 300-131 vote.

The WTO ruled against the U.S. in November 2011 and against its subsequent appeal in June 2012, ruling that American COOL regulations violated its WTO obligations by discriminating against imported livestock.  The WTO ordered the U.S. to come into compliance by May 2013. The USDA subsequently issued a revised COOL rule, but Canada and Mexico claimed the revised rule did not bring the U.S. into compliance. The WTO ruled against the U.S. revised rule in October 2014 and again in a final appeal in May 2015, finding for a fourth time that U.S. COOL requirements for beef and pork are discriminatory and therefore not in compliance with WTO obligations.

After issuing the ruling, the WTO has begun the process of determining the level of retaliatory tariffs Canada and Mexico would be permitted to impose if the U.S. does not comply with the ruling. Canada’s Trade Minister issued a statement stating that it will seek WTO authorization for nearly $2.5 billion in retaliatory sanctions. The Mexican government said it is seeking WTO authority to issue over $650 million in retaliatory sanctions against the U.S.  H.R. 2393 repeals existing country-of-origin labeling requirements for retailers of beef, pork, and chicken to avoid these retaliatory tariffs.

Although chicken was not a part of the WTO dispute between Canada, Mexico and the U.S., industry stakeholders had requested COOL requirements for chicken be repealed as well due to the high costs and minimal benefits associated with the requirements.