Ritz Warns of COOL Retaliation, Points to Farm Bill as Solution

Nov 05, 2013

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

There is a meat dispute between Canada and the United States.

Federal Agriculture Minister, Gerry Ritz led a delegation of provincial agriculture ministers and industry representatives to the North American Meat Association conference held in Chicago, IL. At the conference, Ritz reiterated Canada’s position on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s country-of-origin-labeling rule, also known as COOL.

Ritz says he is hopeful the U.S. will back off on COOL, but is prepared to retaliate if it isn’t resolved soon. Canada has prepared a retaliatory list of measures in case it has to act, and is seeking permission to retaliate through the World Trade Organization (WTO). About eight million American jobs depend on agriculture trade with Canada. The meat labeling law is costing Canadian producers about $ 1 billion annually.

The meat labelling rule has already led Tyson Foods Inc. to stop buying cattle directly from Canadian feedlot producers, citing additional costs as the reason. COOL was expanded to require meat products to include more information, such as where the meat was born, raised and slaughtered. It also forbids commingling of meat cuts.

Remedy could come with the creation of a new five-year farm bill. Ritz urges U.S. lawmakers to scrap COOL through the farm bill, which is currently being negotiated at committee. A number of conferees have suggested the need to kill the program or make it compliant with the WTO. Congress plans to have a renewed farm bill by the end of the year.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.