Members of a select House-Senate panel on Wednesday targeted for potential repeal a U.S. meat-labeling law that Mexico and Canada have challenged as a violation of world trade rules, and that U.S. meatpackers also oppose.
The country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law requires labels on packages of beef, pork, poultry and lamb sold in U.S. stores to carry specific information on the source of the meat. The U.S. terms it a "consumer information" program.
While favored by consumer groups, COOL has been a lightning rod for dispute for more than a decade. Congress approved meat-origin labeling in 2002, but it did not become mandatory until 2009.
The United States re-wrote the regulations this year in an attempt to satisfy a 2012 World Trade Organization ruling, but has been challenged again at the WTO.
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