Obama Administration Clashes with Canada over Food Labeling
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
On April 27, Stockwell Day, Canada’s International Trade Minister, announced that Canada gave notice to the Obama Administration of a complaint it has filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding new”country-of-origin” labeling regulations the U.S. government has set on the food processing industry. Day argues that these new regulations are damaging Canada’s cattle and hog industries.
The regulations require U.S. producers to indicate the country of origin of their products, but U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has urged U.S. meat packers to “voluntarily” include where an animal was born, raised and slaughtered. Day claims that this is a subtle tactic to get around WTO and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) restrictions against protectionism. The new labeling rules are opposed by big processors, but are supported in the United States by farmers and consumer groups.
The regulations, issued in February, will affect the packaging of foods such as cuts of beef, poultry, lamb, chicken and pork, as well as some fruits, vegetables and nuts. Tension between the two nations has increased since Barack Obama’s inauguration. Companies such as Cargill Inc. and Hormel Foods Corp. have stopped buying Canadian hogs all together. Although the new regulations allow producers to label products as “product of the United States and Canada,” Martin Rice, executive director of the Canadian Pork Council said, “U.S. processors simply can’t handle all these labeling combinations. So they’re buying pork from domestic farmers instead.” Canadian pork exports to the U.S. have dropped by more than 40 percent this year and cattle exports have fallen by 25, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
-Ednar Segura, David Wallechinsky
Ottawa Prepares to Take on Obama Over Meat (by Barrie McKenna, Globe and Mail)
Canada to Challenge U.S. Food-Label Rules at WTO (by Sheldon Alberts, Canwest)
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