By: Andrew Harig, Director Government Relations, Food Marketing Institute
As we start 2015 and welcome a new Congress to Washington, D.C., it’s important to keep in mind the cycle of issues and that old, but true wisdom that “everything old is new again.”
Take for example country of origin labeling (COOL). Our industry has been dealing with this issue - in one form or another - since 2002 and it shows no signs of going away.
The latest round of action stems from the United States’ loss in a trade case brought by Canada and Mexico in the World Trade Organization (WTO). You’ll remember that back in June, 2012 the WTO ruled that USDA’s mandatory COOL program violates our trade commitments and must be amended in order to avoid retaliatory tariffs. Since then, the U.S has lost a series of appeals to this decision and is now making its way through the last few procedural stages before tariffs can be applied.
As you’d expect, this has sent Congress scrambling for an appropriate response, though as of yet they have not mustered the political will to actually reform the law. Instead, they used the recent Continuing Resolution/Omnibus bill passed in December to call for USDA to provide them with a list of options for reforming the law.
As often happens when old issues rise again, there were recently some misleading articles regarding the language in the Omnibus with regards to COOL. In a nutshell, here is where we stand.
The Continuing Resolution/Omnibus that passed Congress in December did include language on COOL. It directed the Secretary of Agriculture to provide Congress with a report containing a set of recommendations for making COOL compliant with the U.S.'s WTO obligations. It sets a deadline for the submission of this report as either May 1, 2015 or 15 days after a decision in the WTO case, whichever comes first.
That is the extent of the language. It DID NOT suspend or repeal COOL in anyway. The law is still in effect and food retailers will still need to comply with it.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has made it clear to Congress that the law needs to be changed in order to fix the situation. It is possible we might see some action on this front in 2015, after the decision in the WTO appeal is handed down. But for now, the law stands in effect.
If you have any questions related to COOL, please contact me aharig@fmi.org.