Agricultural News
Plaintiffs Appeal Court Ruling in COOL Lawsuit; Groups Defend District Court's Decision
Thu, 12 Sep 2013 17:29:23 CDT
Plaintiffs in the country of origin labeling (COOL) lawsuit filed a notice of appeal on September 12 of the September 11 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson denying plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Pork Producers Council, American Meat Institute, American Association of Meat Processors, Canadian Cattlemen's Association, Canadian Pork Council, North American Meat Association, Southwest Meat Association and Mexico's National Confederation of Livestock Organizations.
On August 19, the court granted a motion by the United States Cattlemen's Association (USCA), National Farmers Union (NFU), the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) and the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) to become defendant-intervenors in the lawsuit.
The following statement was released by the United States Cattlemen's Association (USCA) President Jon Wooster, San Lucas, California.
"USCA, National Farmers Union, the American Sheep Industry Association and the Consumer Federation of America intervened in this lawsuit to defend the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) modified regulation. We believe the district court judge issued a well-reasoned opinion.
"We will actively participate in the appeal process to defend the correctness of the district court's denial of the preliminary injunction motion. We strongly believe that the American consumer has a right to know where their meat is from and U.S. livestock producers have the right to differentiate their product in the marketplace as to its origin. USDA's May 23 revision to COOL regulations improves the information available to consumers, hence reducing confusion on where meat products are from and offers U.S. livestock producers an important opportunity to differentiate their product.
"The USCA board of directors made the decision to intervene in this lawsuit with its allies with the intention to take every step necessary to defend COOL and that's exactly what we're doing. We are very grateful for the support we are receiving for this effort. USCA will continue to release information about this lawsuit as it becomes available."
NCBA President Scott George said his group was not happy with the court's ruling.
"We are understandably disappointed in the Court's review of the matter. The final rule on country of origin labeling (COOL) has been found by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to be "economically significant." While we in the countryside know what is economically significant, for the CBO that means the costs to the industry would exceed $100 million. These are costs that will end up being paid by producers through lower prices and passed onto to consumers through higher prices.
"That is what is really at issue here. For most things, a fair price for a fair service. But with COOL, this is a mandatory government run labeling program that has already failed. Moreover, a study by Kansas State in November 2012, found that mandatory COOL had not impacted beef demand and even more significantly, despite the fact that origin information had been on retail products for nearly three years, typical consumers were completely unaware of it."
You can read more of George's reaction by clicking here.
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