Federal minister of agriculture Gerry Ritz has welcomed the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of a bill to repeal Country of Origin Labelling.
The vote carried in the House Wednesday by a 300 to 131 margin.
This comes on the heels of the latest World Trade Organization ruling this spring against mandatory labels on beef and pork products coming out of Canada and Mexico.
Canada has threatened to go ahead with retaliatory trade measures against the United States since the decision, and opponents of COOL have urged its repeal as a way to avoid retaliation.
After the House vote, Ritz welcomed the result in a news release.
"Today's vote in the U.S. House of Representatives sends a strong bipartisan message that COOL must be repealed once and for all,” Ritz said.
“The administration and Congress know that COOL is costing thousands of American jobs and billions in economic harm to our highly integrated North American livestock industry.”
Ritz, MP for Battlefords-Lloydminster, further called on the U.S. Senate and President Barack Obama to support the repeal of COOL.
“While this marks a positive step, the only way for the United States to avoid billions in retaliation by late summer is to ensure legislation repealing COOL passes the Senate and is signed by the president.”
