Saskatchewan calls on U.S. to drop country-of-origin labelling
WTO rules in Canada's favour in meat-labelling case
Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart is calling on the U.S. to drop country-of-origin labelling (COOL) in the wake of a World Trade Organization ruling.
On Monday, a WTO compliance panel ruled in favour of Canada's position urging the U.S. to comply with the WTO rules.
"This final ruling demonstrates the need for the United States to bring COOL in line with its WTO obligations," Stewart said in a news release.
"COOL does not address the best interest of the public and it unfairly discriminates against Canadian cattle and hog exports."
With U.S.'s country-of-original labelling program, any foreign beef or pork sold in stores must say where it's from and where it was slaughtered.
Saskatchewan is against it out of concern it makes Americans less likely to buy Canadian meat.
Since COOL was introduced in 2008, Canada's industry has estimated damages in excess of $1 billion a year due to price declines, lost sales and added costs, the province says.
Cattle and hog producers in the province will benefit if the U.S. becomes trade compliant. Saskatchewan has some 2.9 million head of cattle. It also markets around 2.1 million hogs every year, the province says.