COOL Repeal Rulemaking Now under Review

COOL Repeal Rulemaking Now under Review

The White House will review the regulatory rulemaking for the removal of Country of Origin Labeling requirements. The Office of Management and Budget logged the COOL repeal for review. Congress passed the repeal in the December spending bill to avoid trade retaliation from Canada and Mexico as approved by the World Trade Organization. However, the review is mostly procedural as OMB must review all regulations before they are implemented, according to the National Pork Producers Council. The repeal came after Canada and Mexico brought cases against COOL to the World Trade Organization, which ruled that it violated U.S. international trade obligations. The decision authorized Canada and Mexico to put retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods going to those countries – the top two U.S. export markets. In December, the WTO set the retaliation level at more than $1 billion annually.

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