Canada responds to 'Product of USA' labeling regulations

Mar 13, 2024

Federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay, and Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, Mary Ng, released the following joint statement in response to the final rule released by the United States related to the "Product of USA" voluntary labelling regulations for meat, poultry and egg products.

"The meat and livestock sectors in Canada and the United States work closely together, supporting food security as well as local and regional food systems. Our indispensable relationship allows producers, processors and consumers on both sides of the border to benefit from efficient, stable and competitive markets, while ensuring a reliable supply of high-quality products.

Canada remains concerned about any measures that may cause disruptions to the highly integrated North American meat and livestock supply chains.

We are disappointed that the final rule does not appear to take into account the concerns we have continually brought forward related to our unique and important trading relationship. Canada intends to raise this during the agriculture ministers trilateral meeting with United States and Mexico scheduled to take place in Colorado later this month.

We are reviewing the final rule carefully and will closely monitor its impacts and implementation, including in light of the U.S.' international trade obligations, to ensure our meat sector can continue to enjoy predictable and unhindered access to the United States market."

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Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.