Backers of meat labeling law hail court ruling

A federal court ruling from eastern Washington earlier this month could shore up the legal foundation under country of origin meat labeling, or COOL, which faces a challenge from Mexico and Canada at the World Trade Organization. That's the opinion of the cattle industry group R-Calf and Sen. Tim Johnson, a longtime COOL proponent. However, a meat industry spokesman insisted the ruling from the Washington Easterday Ranches case has no effect on the WTO complaint against COOL. "It's a completely separate legal process," National Meat Association spokesman Jeremy Russell said. Johnson and other proponents got COOL into the 2008 federal farm bill after more than a decade of trying. Opponents have tried to circumvent COOL since it was implemented in March 2009 and almost immediately challenged its legality. While COOL requires meat sold in the U.S. to be labeled as to its source, a loophole allows packers to affix a multicountry of origin label, such as listing meat as a product of Canada and the U.S, according to Bill Bullard of Billings, Mont., the CEO of R-Calf. Also, packers "provided labeling so small you about need a pair of magnifying glasses to read it," he said...read more