Canadian pork producers respond to COOL rule
The United States Department of Agriculture has issued the final rule for mandatory Country of Origin labelling. The Canadian Pork Council is cautiously optimistic regarding the COOL final rule and is hopeful that will alleviate the market uncertainty allowing the market to stabilise. The CPC, however, remains opposed to the mandatory initiative, seeing it as a barrier to trade.
“There is an increasing body of market information coming from both the United States and Canada pointing clearly to COOL having seriously disrupted trade in live swine between Canada and the US and we continue to have concerns that market discrimination against imports will persist” stated Jurgen Preugchas, President of the Canadian Pork Council.
The Canadian pork industry enjoys a solid world-wide reputation for excellent quality and high animal health status. Canadian producers are alarmed that the COOL requirements are destroying a trade relationship that mutually benefits both countries, in particular the US export market for Canadian live swine.
“Publication of the final rule may alleviate some of the market uncertainty that currently disrupts our US-Canada trade relationship” added Preugchas. “However, we will continue to assess the impact of the COOL on Canadian producers and will need an evaluation period to determine the impact of these changes in the marketplace.”
Related Website
• Canadian Pork Council
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