News - World Trade Organization

Vic Toews, Member of Parliament for Provencher, welcomed the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) ruling that the U.S. Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) measure is inconsistent with the country’s WTO trade obligations.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz concluded the 36th Cairns Group (CG) Ministerial Meeting where members assessed the ongoing WTO Doha Round negotiations on agriculture and other issues that impact trade, with the objective of fostering a more open agricultural trading system.

The National Pork Producers Council says, if the WTO rules against the United States on Mandatory COOL, it will urge the U.S. government to come into compliance with its international trade obligations.

The U.S. based National Pork Producers Council says it plans to stay out of the debate over Mandatory U.S. Country of Origin Labelling as the issue moves through the World Trade Organization dispute settlement process.

A U.S. based agricultural economist predicts any changes to Mandatory U.S. Country of Origin Labelling laws will have a minimal effect on the overall movement of live cattle and hogs into the U.S. from Canada.

The Guelph based George Morris Centre predicts it take a couple of years before a preliminary WTO finding that U.S. Mandatory COOL violates technical barriers to trade has any impact on the cross border movement of live animals.

Canada’s Agriculture Minister says, in the absence of progress in multilateral trade discussions at the World Trade Organization, nations have become much more receptive to securing bilateral trade agreements.

The legal team representing Canada in it’s dispute with the U.S. over Country of origin labeling has begun preparing for the next round of WTO hearings.

The chair of the Canadian Pork Council’s trade committee says the World Trade Organization’s ruling on U.S. Mandatory Country of Origin Labelling will have far reaching implications.

The first round of World Trade Organization hearings into a Canadian complaint against U.S. Mandatory Country of Origin Labelling has concluded in Geneva, Switzerland.