USDA earlier this month published a final rule that officially ends mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef and pork muscle cuts and ground beef and pork. Retailers are no longer required to provide this information at the point of sale.
Congress last December repealed the COOL requirements for beef and pork in the omnibus appropriations bill. This brought the United States into compliance with its international trade obligations and ended the potential of over $1 billion per year of retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico. COOL is still required for chicken, lamb, goat, farm-raised and wild caught fish and shellfish, perishable agricultural commodities, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts and ginseng.
During Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to the U.S. last week, President Obama reminded Trudeau of recent Congressional and regulatory action to repeal COOL requirements for beef and pork that brings the United States into compliance with its international trade obligations.
