Origin labelling claims on meat and poultry products are again up for discussion in the U.S.  
According to media reports and Federal government announcements Canada will firmly oppose U.S. proposals to renew mandatory country-of-origin labelling for pork and beef. The same as in the past because it could cause disruptions to North American livestock supply chains.  
The statement by Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and International Trade Minister Mary Ng came in response to a proposed U.S. rule requiring meat, poultry or eggs labelled as a U.S. product to be raised and slaughtered within the country. 
On Monday, March 14, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officially submitted a proposed amendment to the voluntary ‘Product of the USA’ labelling regulations. This amendment would only allow products from livestock born, raised, harvested, and processed in the U.S. to use this label claim. 
The current USDA labelling regulations allow voluntary ‘Product of the USA’ claims on meat products from imported animals but processed in the U.S. 
The Manitoba Pork Council, no stranger to the disruptions COOL caused from 2009 through 2015, is investigating this proposal said general manager Cam Dahl.  
Dahl said the word voluntary is an important one.  
“This isn’t the same as the mandatory country of origin labelling the initiative that Canada and Mexico successfully took to the WTO and won the case against the U.S. in 2015.” 
At the outset, this proposal is voluntary. However, if a processor or a marketer wants to use the product of the USA label under this proposal, the meat would have to come from animals born, raised and slaughtered in the U.S. So that’s very restrictive, and really concerning for a province like Manitoba that ships three million pigs a year into the U.S. While the impact of this proposed rule is still unknown, it is crucial to determine Manitoba Pork’s options.  
In today’s climate, voluntary can mean a bit of a slippery slope because the world has become much more protectionist with “countries putting in me first policies.” 
Dahl said this is an excellent example of a protectionist measure. For an exporting country like Canada, an exporting province like Manitoba, and an export industry like Manitoba Pork, rising protectionism is a huge problem. 
The voluntary part consists of the fact it is not a mandatory label. So a U.S. producer can import Canadian isoweans and a U.S. processor can still buy Canadian pigs. However, suppose the company chooses to put that ‘made in USA label’ on their package at the grocery store. In that case, it’s not an option for Canadian producers to sell either isoweans to producers or finished pigs to the processor. So, it’s going to restrict the market for Canadian pigs. 
Canada and Mexico took the U.S.’s previous mandatory country-of-origin labelling rule to the WTO and won.  
“We need to determine if there are ways of challenging this new proposed rule and probably involve a lot of lawyers and analysis and see how to respond,” said the MPC gm.  
While still only a proposed rule, Manitoba Pork and its partners in the U.S. will have the opportunity, both the processors and the producers to comment to help preserve the integrated market, especially for cattle and hogs in North America. •
— By Harry Siemens