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Canada Launches WTO Challenge | |
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From the Oct 8, 2009 Broadcast of Call of the Land | |
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| | Ottawa is launching a World Trade Organization dispute settlement process over U.S. mandatory country-of-origin labeling, referred to as COOL. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says Canadian farmers and ranchers are facing unfair discrimination because of COOL legislation, adding he is confident the challenge will be successful. Stockwell Day, minister of international trade, says the COOL requirements are so onerous that they affect the ability of Canadian cattle and hog exporters to compete fairly in the U.S. market. Canada’s request for a panel comes after two rounds of WTO consultations with the U.S. failed to resolve the issue. Panels are the next step in the WTO’s dispute settlement process. Canada initially requested WTO consultations with the U.S. on COOL in December 2008, as it believed the measures were creating undue trade restrictions, to the detriment of Canadian exporters. A further round of consultations was held June 5 of this year.
The preceding is a transcript of the October 8, 2009 program. There may be some omissions due to last minute changes. For further information, contact Caitlynn Reesor at 780-422-3981 or Ken Blackley at 780-422-3951. Click here to view the latest Call of the Land. |
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For more information about the content of this document, contact Caitlynn Reesor.
This information published to the web on October 8, 2009.
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