Pork Wars? Canada Readies WTO Case Against U.S. Meat Labeling Rules

It seems the new Secretary of Agriculture may be provoking another round of trade litigation with Canada. 

Canada took action against the United States at the World Trade Organization on Thursday over a U.S. meat labeling law that Canadian producers say has hurt their hog and cattle sales. Ottawa requested a further round of consultations, a formal step that will enable it to request a WTO dispute settlement panel after 60 days if talks with the United States do not resolve its concerns. 

The issue is over a new rule that forces U.S. meat packers to include the country of origin on their product labels. Canada had requested WTO consultations last year but then suspended its action after Washington revised the final version to make it more flexible.

 

But before the law went into effect on March 16, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack warned meat packers he would rewrite it unless they voluntarily made labels more explicit.

 

“Recent instructions from the U.S. secretary of agriculture encouraging U.S. industry to use very strict labeling practices have removed the flexibility previously envisioned in the legislation and will affect the ability of our cattle and hog exporters to compete fairly in the U.S. market,” Canadian Trade Minister Stockwell Day said