NOBULL: Senate COOL Letter

Hello R-CALF USA Affiliates,

Below is a joint letter that Senators Tester (D-MT), Johnson (D-SD), Enzi (R-WY) and Grassley (R-IA) are circulating in support of COOL. We need more Senators to join the letter. Please contact your Senators and ask them to join onto the Tester/Enzi COOL letter. To join the letter, your Senators should contact:

Nathan Taylor, Staff for Senator Tester, at 202-224-3015

Travis Jordan, Staff for Senator Enzi, at 202 -224-3424

Thanks for your help!

Bill

January XX, 2013

Ambassador Kirk and Secretary Vilsack,

We are writing regarding the decision by the World Trade Organization (WTO) on December 4, 2012 that the United States must implement the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) decision on Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) by May 23, 2013.

While we disagree with the DSB decision and the June 29, 2012 Appellate Body decision, we appreciate that the WTO recognized the United States’ legitimate authority to require country of origin labeling for beef and pork products. Following a deliberative and thorough process which has lasted more than 10 years, Congress enacted COOL in response to demand from consumers and livestock producers that reliable information be available about where their meat comes from.

It is now critical that the U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Department of Agriculture work together to find a regulatory solution that can be implemented by the livestock industry and serves consumers as Congress intended. Given that the COOL regulation is highly technical in nature, it is increasingly important that both agencies work with stakeholders to find an acceptable remedy while ensuring that any changes to COOL meet the intent of Congress.

As you work toward implementing the WTO decision, we request that you focus on remedies that meet three critical principles.

· Focus on a regulatory fix to the rules that implement the COOL statute. The WTO Appellate Body found that providing consumer information on the origin of meat is a “legitimate objective” as was intended by the U.S. law. Instead, it was the implementation of the 2009 final COOL rule that was inconsistent with the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement.

· Ensure that a regulatory fix provides accurate information about the origin of all meat cuts to consumers. Congress intended that COOL provide as much information as possible about the origin of the meat that consumers purchase. Some flexibility is needed so that COOL can be reasonably implemented but such flexibility cannot come at the expense of providing reliable information to families about the national origin of meat products.

· Work actively with industry stakeholders when crafting new regulations and allow the opportunity for public comment from consumers, livestock producers, and industry representatives. We also request that you keep interested Members of Congress informed on any progress to a regulatory fix to COOL.

Thank you very much for your work on behalf of Country of Origin Labeling and we look forward to working with you to resolve this issue.