The Nation’s Dietary Guidelines for 2015 have been a hot topic for nearly a year. In February, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s report. The advisory report was not the dietary guidelines or a draft of the policy. HHS and USDA will release the proposed dietary guidelines next month. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs Colin Woodall said the guidelines should be more favorable than what the advisory committee had in mind earlier this year. Woodall credits the House Agriculture committee hearing that was held in October that consisted of testimony from Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell.
“They proactively announced that environmental and sustainably concerns would no longer be a part of these guidelines,” Woodall said. “That was one of our biggest issues. So by taking that out of the equation, I do believe ultimately we will have guidelines that include lean beef into the overall statement on a healthy dietary pattern.”
That’s a huge victory for the beef industry. At the start of the year, beef was taken off the plate completely. Woodall credits the information on how lean beef has a role in a healthy diet.
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays caught up with Woodall at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting in Kansas City, Missouri last week. Click or tap on the LISTEN BAR below to listen to the interview.
In the interview, they also discuss Country-of-Origin Labeling and the World Trade Organization ruling that is expected to come out in December 7th. Woodall said everything hinges on this next ruling. The U.S. House of Representatives have already voted to repeal COOL. He said the U.S. Senate will not act until this next ruling comes out from the WTO.
“Congress is not going to act until we know for certain what that dollar figure is that WTO approves for both Canada and Mexico to issue retaliation,” Woodall said. “Only then will Congress actually step up and finally take that last action to repeal COOL.”
Retaliation proposed by Canada and Mexico totals $3.6 billion dollars annually. That’s much lower than the estimate determined by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). USTR determined that the maximum amount that Canada and Mexico could possibly claim as a result of the United States' implementation of mandatory COOL is less than $94 million annually. Woodall believes the WTO number will be closer to the Canadian and Mexican figures than the USTR numbers.
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