COOL in Jeopardy of Straight Repeal:
Tell Your Elected Officials to Oppose COOL Riders on the Omnibus Bill

On Monday, the World Trade Organization (WTO) authorized Canada and Mexico to impose $1.01 billion in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods as part of a dispute over the the U.S. Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) law. As of right now, Congress may be considering repealing COOL on the omnibus funding legislation that will be considered before December 16. We can not let that happen!

Here’s the deal:

Earlier this year, the House hastily repealed COOL even beyond the issues in the dispute at the WTO. In addition to muscle cuts of beef and pork, the House repealed poultry, ground beef, and ground pork. The Senate has had a trade-compliant compromise solution pending for months that would establish a voluntary program where the definition of a “product of the U.S.” would remain consistent with what exists now. Without this in law, U.S. consumers will once again be deliberately deceived at the grocery store and U.S. ranchers will be left without an option to adequately distinguish their product. This is completely unacceptable for U.S. ranchers and consumers.

All of the negotiations right now are happening behind closed doors, and once a final decision is made on the funding package, legislators are essentially left with an up or down vote on whether or not to shut down the government. This is a shameful way to legislate. NFU will unequivocally oppose any repeal of COOL that does not include provisions that maintain the integrity of the “product of the U.S.” label.

Here’s how you can help:

Please call your members of Congress and ask them to oppose riders on COOL on the omnibus. Thank them for their help in preserving consumers’ right to access information about where their food comes from and American ranchers’ right to tell them. The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121; call immediately and ask for your members’ offices!