Canada Wins Battle over Cattle

Canadian livestock will no longer have to self-identify as Canadian.

The World Trade Organization has laid down the law this weekend in the country-of-origin labelling (COOL) rules case, and the victor is clear: Canadian livestock producers. In 2008, fears of an H1N1 epidemic and BSE in Canadian cattle led the United States to impose strict labelling laws about the country of origin on all meat, including lamb, goat, and chicken. This meant segregating Canadian animals in order to process, package, and label their meat separately. As a result, the minister of agriculture has said Canada lost almost half of its feeder cattle exports and more than half of its slaughter hogs between 2008 and 2009, with some estimating costs to producers at $5 billion. Mexico joined Canada in asking the WTO to rule against COOL.

Image courtesy of Reuters.