By Masswohl
The recently passed farm bill did nothing to change the COOL regulations implemented by the USDA last fall. Among the long-time opponents of those regulations have been Canadian cattlemen who believe the rules will unfairly hamper the marketing of their product in the U.S. John Masswohl, the director of governmental and international relations with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association tells Radio Oklahoma’s Ron Hays the failure to address COOL in the farm bill was a disappointment. (You can hear their conversation by clicking on the LISTEN BAR at the bottom of this story.)
“Basically it was a missed opportunity to do something to resolve the issue. It’s status quo, so we’re going to continue on our path which is we’re back to the WTO. That process started back in September where the compliance panel was composed. Since that time there have been submissions of written briefs. There’s now an oral hearing that’s going to be about two weeks from now. And then I guess we’ll wait about four months to get a ruling on that.”
The crux of the matter with COOL, Masswohl said, “is that it creates the requirement that packers and people who buy cattle in the United States have to segregate imported cattle, keep them separate from U.S. cattle and manage them separately so that, ultimately, the meat can be labeled differently.
“That really was the essence of what the WTO concluded was wrong with the COOL. I know people here have tried to suggest that there was another issue that somehow there was some other issue that was addressed by this regulation change, but if you actually read the ruling and see what it’s about, it’s hard to conclude that the U.S. is now in compliance with this change that was made.”
If the WTO concludes that the USDA’s COOL regulation is not in compliance, there has been the suggestion that Canada and Mexico will have no recourse but to retaliate against products originating in the United States.
“The government of Canada has already published a list of products,” Masswohl said. “Beef is on it. Pork is on it. There are also other things on it. There are cakes, cookies, a lot of baked goods. There are some fresh fruits. I think cherries are on there.
“What they’ve tried to do is look at who the Congressman and Senators have been who have not supported resolving this case. And I think those Congressman and Senators will find that there are things from their states that are on this list. But there are also things that are non-agricultural like mattresses, furniture and a few other things.”
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