Meat Labeling Rules Prompts Tyson to Stop Buying Canadian Cattle Shipped to U.S. Plants

Meat Labeling Rules Prompts Tyson to Stop Buying Canadian Cattle Shipped to U.S. Plants

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

The world’s second largest processor of beef, Tyson Foods Inc. is no longer accepting Canadian cattle shipments to its U.S. plants, citing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s country-of-origin labelling (COOL) rules as the reason for the change. The new company policy became effective this week. Tyson said despite the policy change, it will continue to buy Canadian cattle that are finished for market at U.S. feedlots.

A Tyson spokesperson said the company does not have enough warehouse capacity to accommodate products which now require different types of labelling due to the revised COOL rule. USDA’s revisions expanded its meat labeling rule which requires information about where the meat was born, raised and slaughtered as well as a rule that forbids commingling of muscle cuts.

The company said it hopes the new rules will be retracted, so that it may be able to resume buying cattle directly from Canadian feedlot producers. Canada and Mexico have made a complaint with the World Trade Organization making the case that the U.S. meat labeling rules break trade obligations. The dispute is ongoing.