Bipartisan Bill to Reinstate COOL for Beef Reintroduced
Four Republicans and two Democrats reintroduced the American Beef Labeling Act in the Senate, a bill that would direct the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to develop a World Trade Organization-compliant way to reinstate mandatory country of origin labeling for beef.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds, both Republicans from South Dakota, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., are lead sponsors of the legislation. The bill is the same as one that was introduced in 2021 (see 2109090054).
The previous country of origin labeling (COOL) for beef triggered a dispute among the U.S., Mexico and Canada that the U.S. lost at the WTO (see 1512070017), leading to retaliatory tariffs, and ultimately, the end of mandatory COOL.
Thune said in a press release announcing the bill: “To ensure the viability of cattle ranching in this country, the system in which producers operate must be fair and transparent. As a long-time supporter of [mandatory COOL], I am proud to lead this legislation, and I will continue fighting to get it signed into law.”