May 18, 2015 – Ottawa, Ontario – Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, and the Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, jointly with Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, and Enrique Martínez y Martínez, Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food, today issued the following statement on the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) latest and final ruling on the United States’ Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) measure:
“Once again, the WTO has confirmed Canada and Mexico’s long-standing position that the United States’ mandatory COOL requirements for beef and pork are blatantly protectionist and are a violation of the United States’ international trade obligations.