Posted on 05/19/2015 6:27:34 PM PDT by rickmichaels
Canada vowed on Tuesday to give the Americans a taste of their own medicine by making it harder for the U.S. to peddle its wares in the Great White North.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Trade Minister Ed Fast said they plan to enact "retaliatory measures" against U.S. exports after winning a meat-labelling dispute at the World Trade Organization on Monday.
The WTO upheld a complaint by Canada and Mexico that U.S. laws -- which require retailers to label meat with the country where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered -- discriminate against imported livestock.
"The WTO has been clear -- the United States administration must end its discriminatory ... policy that is causing hurt to beef and pork industries on both sides of the border," Ritz said Tuesday.
"Our government is now seeking authority from the WTO to impose retaliatory measures against United States exports. We will continue to defend the interests of our cattle and hog sectors while protecting all hardworking Canadians through this process."
Canadian sanctions could affect U.S. beef, pork, wine, cherries, pasta, ketchup, cereal, corn, furniture and more, Fast and Ritz said.
The threat aims to put pressure on U.S. lawmakers to repeal meat-labelling regulations, which Canadian beef and pork industries say add to expenses and have cut livestock exports, driving some farmers out of business and costing them more than $1 billion a year.
"We call on the U.S to cease this harmful policy and restore our integrated North American supply chain, benefitting businesses and workers on both sides of the border," Fast said.
Republicans, who have a majority in Congress, have signalled they may act to repeal the laws as early as this week, but consumer groups and many Democrats say the laws provide essential information for shoppers.
Lori Wallach, Public Citizen's global trade watch director, said the WTO ruling "effectively orders the U.S. government to stop providing consumers basic information about where their food comes from."
Perhaps Canada and Mexico just want to reignite the “Parts is Parts” campaign....
Here are the USDA regulations [although the logo says WSDA, it is common to relabel USDA regs with different emphasis on feeding practices known to potentially be more locally problematic.] http://agr.wa.gov/FoodAnimal/AnimalFeed/Publications/ProhibMatDefs.pdf
The Canucks are sore because they can’t beat our meat.
USA!
PS Ok, just the ones from Calgayry.
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