Download or read book Country of origin Labeling for Foods and the Wto Trade Dispute on Meat Labeling written by Congressional Research Service and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-01-29 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most retail food stores are now required to inform consumers about the country of origin of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, shellfish, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, ginseng, and ground and muscle cuts of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and goat. The rules are required by the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) as amended by the 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246). Other U.S. laws have required such labeling, but only for imported food products already pre-packaged for consumers. The final rule to implement country-of-origin labeling (COOL) took effect on March 16, 2009. Both the authorization and implementation of COOL by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been controversial, particularly the labeling rules for meat and meat products. A number of livestock and food industry groups continue to oppose COOL as costly and unnecessary, and they and the main livestock exporters to the United States—Canada and Mexico—view the requirement as trade-distorting. Others, including some cattle and consumer groups, maintain that Americans want and deserve to know the origin of their foods. Canada and Mexico challenged U.S. COOL in the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing that COOL has a trade-distorting impact by reducing the value and number of cattle and hogs shipped to the U.S. market, thus violating WTO trade commitments. In November 2011, the WTO dispute settlement (DS) panel found that (1) COOL treats imported livestock less favorably than U.S. livestock, and (2) COOL does not meet its objective to provide complete information to consumers on the origin of meat products. In March 2012, the United States appealed the WTO ruling. In June 2012 the WTO's Appellate Body (AB) upheld the DS panel's finding that COOL treats imported livestock less favorably than domestic livestock. But the AB reversed the finding that COOL does not fulfill its legitimate objective to provide consumers with information on origin. The Obama Administration welcomed the AB's affirmation of the U.S. right to adopt labeling requirements to inform consumers on the origin of their meat. Participants in the U.S. livestock sector had mixed reactions, reflecting the ongoing heated debate on COOL. In order to meet a May 23, 2013 compliance deadline, USDA issued a revised COOL rule requiring that labels show where each production step (born, raised, slaughtered) occurs and prohibiting the commingling of muscle-cut meat from different origins. COOL's supporters applauded the revised rule for providing consumers with specific, useful information on origin. Canada and Mexico expressed disappointment with USDA's revised rule. In September 2013, a compliance panel was formed to determine if the revised COOL rule complies with WTO agreements. On October 20, 2014, the panel found that the revised COOL rule altered competition and thus treated imported livestock less favorably than domestic livestock. The panel confirmed that COOL is a legitimate objective, but could not determine if the rule was more trade restrictive than necessary. The United States appealed the compliance panel report on November 28, 2014, and the Appellate Body will hear the appeal on February 16 and 17, 2015.

Download or read book Country Of Origin Labeling for Foods and the WTO Trade Dispute on Meat Labeling written by Remy Jurenas and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2012-08-02 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most retail food stores are now required to inform consumers about the country of origin of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, shellfish, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, ginseng, and ground and muscle cuts of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and goat. The rules are required by the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) as amended by the 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246). Other U.S. laws have required such labeling, but only for imported food products already pre-packaged for consumers. The final rule to implement COOL took effect on March 16, 2009. Both the authorization and implementation of country-of-origin labeling (COOL) by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service have been controversial. Much attention has focused on the labeling rules that now apply to meat and meat products. A number of livestock and food industry groups continue to oppose COOL as costly and unnecessary. They and the main livestock exporters to the United States—Canada and Mexico—view the requirement as trade-distorting. Others, including some cattle and consumer groups, maintain that Americans want and deserve to know the origin of their foods, and point out that many U.S. trading partners have their own import labeling requirements. Less than one year after the COOL rules took effect, Canada and Mexico used the World Trade Organization's (WTO's) trade dispute resolution process to challenge some features that apply to labeling meat. Both countries argued that COOL has a trade-distorting impact by reducing the value and number of cattle and hogs shipped to the U.S. market. For this reason, they argued that COOL violates WTO trade commitments agreed to by the United States. On November 18, 2011, a WTO dispute settlement (DS) panel found that (1) COOL treats imported livestock less favorably than like U.S. livestock (particularly in the labeling of beef and pork muscle cuts), and (2) COOL does not meet its objective to provide complete information to consumers on the origin of meat products. The panel reached these conclusions by examining the economic effects of the measures taken by U.S. livestock producers and meat processors to implement COOL, and by accepting arguments that the way meat is labeled to indicate where the multiple steps of livestock birth, raising, and slaughtering occurred is confusing. On March 23, 2012, the United States appealed the panel report to the WTO Appellate Body (AB). On June 29, 2012, the AB upheld the DS panel's finding that the COOL measure treats imported Canadian cattle and hogs, and imported Mexican cattle, less favorably than like domestic livestock, because of its record-keeping and verification requirements. The AB, however, reversed the panel's finding that COOL does not fulfill its legitimate objective to provide consumers with information on origin. The Obama Administration welcomed the AB's affirmation of the U.S. right to adopt labeling requirements to inform consumers on the origin of the meat they purchase, but did not signal what steps might be considered to address the 'less favorable treatment' finding. Participants in the U.S. livestock sector had mixed reactions, reflecting the heated debate on COOL that occurred over the last decade. Two consumer groups expressed concern that this WTO decision further undermines U.S. consumer protections. If the United States decides to bring COOL into compliance with the AB finding, WTO rules call for that to occur within a reasonable period of time. Options would be to consider regulatory and/or statutory changes to the COOL regulations and/or law. If the United States does not comply, Canada and Mexico would have the right to seek compensation or retaliate against imports from the United States.

Download or read book Country Of Origin Labeling for Foods and the WTO Trade Dispute on Meat Labeling written by Remy Jurenas and published by . This book was released on 2012-12-02 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Country of origin Labeling for Foods and the WTO Trade Dispute on Meat Labeling written by and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Country of origin Labeling for Foods and the WTO Trade Dispute on Meat Labeling written by Joel L. Greene and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report covers the dispute between the U.S with its neighbors, Canada and Mexico, who say that the recent country-of-origin labeling (COOL) system implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is unfair and does not meet its original objectives. This dispute was brought before the WTO dispute panel and found to be valid. The report ends with a discussion of options for the U.S. in regards to modifying COOL to follow WTO rulings.

Download or read book Country of Origin Labeling for Foods written by Remy Jurenas and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Many retail food stores are now required to inform consumers about the country of origin of fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, ginseng, and ground and muscle cuts of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and goat. Contents of this report: (1) Recent Developments; (2) Background; (3) Other Laws with Labeling Provisions: Tariff Act; Meat and Poultry Products Inspection Acts; Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; (4) Implementation of Farm Bill COOL Requirements; (5) Key Provisions: Record-Keeping, Verification, and Penalties; (6) Economic and Trade Issues: Costs and Benefits; North Amer. Livestock Trade; U.S. Livestock Imports; (7) Expansion of COOL in Food Safety Measures; COOL for Dairy Products. Illustrations.

Download or read book Country of origin Labeling Requirements for Imported Meat and Other Food Products written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means. Subcommittee on Trade and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: This hearing examines the adequacy of current labeling requirements for food imports and discusses whether or not there is a need to expand or reform these labeling requirements. Testimony was received from several federal officials (including representatives from the General Accounting Office, the Customs Service, the Dept. of Agriculture, and the Dept. of Health and Human Services) and numerous corporate and industry representatives. The specific topic of the hearing was country-of-origin labeling.

Download or read book Country of origin Labeling written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture. Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Hearing to Examine the Implications of Potential Retaliatory Measures Taken Against the United States in Response to Meat Labeling Requirements written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture. Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Country of origin Labeling written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Country of Origin Meat Labeling Act written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture. Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Consumer Information Marks of Origin and WTO Law written by Wendy A. Johnecheck and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper uses the recently initiated United States - Certain Country of Origin Labeling Requirements (US- Meat COOL) dispute to examine the nature of the relationship between consumer information labeling regulatory measures and the applicable WTO provisions disciplining domestic regulation. The US measure in question mandates that retailers provide consumers with information on the national origin of their food as a means of facilitating consumer choice. The US- Meat COOL case is salient to the WTO legal regime because it presents an opportunity to establish a coherent legal jurisprudence relating to measures implemented on consumer information grounds (as separate from, but closely related to, labeling measures implemented on health or environmental grounds). The legal analysis revealed that WTO law does not categorically prohibit genuinely motivated consumer information labeling measures with disparate trade effects. The treatment of measures, which are motivated by both consumer and producer interests, however, remains unclear. Further, given that many of the relevant legal provisions are largely untested, the legal outcome for all consumer choice measures is far from certain, and are equally likely to produce a finding of non-compliance with WTO obligations. In light of this uncertainty, the case study identifies several issues critical to whether the US COOL regulation and, by extension, other consumer information labeling policies are judged compliant with key WTO disciplines. In addition, the paper compares the WTO legality of the US COOL regulation under the relevant provisions with hypothetical results based on an economic efficiency criterion. This analysis reveals that under several likely legal tests net welfare-enhancing labeling regimes risk being deemed in violation of WTO law. The author argues that prohibiting efficient de facto discriminatory consumer information measures runs contrary to the theoretical underpinnings of the treaty text, and that the dispute settlement bodies should, at a minimum, seek to employ legal tests that ensure that efficient consumer information labeling measures are deemed compliant with WTO law. Finally, this paper also explores issues specific to the subset of consumer choice measures, referred to as mandatory marks of origin regulations. It includes a discussion of the historical developments that led to the inclusion of a provision addressing such measures in the original GATT structure (GATT Article IX), the interaction of this Article with other applicable provisions, and the fundamental challenge of applying national treatment obligations to measures intended to facilitate differentiation of products on the basis of national origin.

Download or read book Country of origin Labeling Requirements for Imported Meat and Other Food Products written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means. Subcommittee on Trade and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Challenging US Country of Origin Labeling at the World Trade Organization written by Alison L. Sawka and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Agricultural Trade written by Rowan Stroud and published by Nova Science Publishers. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures are the laws, rules, standards, and procedures that governments employ to protect humans, animals, and plants from diseases, pests, toxins, and other contaminants. Examples include meat and poultry processing standards to reduce pathogens, residue limits for pesticides in foods, and regulation of agricultural biotechnology. Technical barriers to trade (TBT) cover technical regulations, product standards, environmental regulations, and voluntary procedures relating to human health and animal welfare. Examples include trademarks and patents, labeling and packaging requirements, certification and inspection procedures, product specifications, and marketing of biotechnology. SPS and TBT measures both comprise a group of widely divergent standards and standards-based measures that countries use to regulate markets, protect their consumers, and preserve natural resources. This book describes formal challenges involving SPS/TBT that the United States has brought against some U.S. trading partners, which have resulted in trade disputes that have been, or continue to be, reviewed by the World Trade Organization (WTO). It also discusses the United States and European Union hormone and use of pathogen reduction treatment disputes; and the country-of-origin labeling for foods and the WTO trade dispute on meat labeling.

Download or read book Economics of Food Labeling Scholar s Choice Edition written by Elise Golan and published by . This book was released on 2015-02-16 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.