WPX 2011: US Urged to Accept WTO COOL Decision

Thursday Jun 09 2011
by ThePigSite Newsdesk

The National Pork Producers Council has called on the government to live up to its NAFTA obligations and settle the trucking dispute with Mexico to remove the threat to the pork trade.

The dispute is threatening $2.4 billion worth of trade in US goods, National Pork Producers' Council vice president of international affairs Nick Giordano said during World Pork Expo in Des Moines.

However, the US global pig meat trade is also being affected by further disputes within the World Trade Organisation, including the implementation of country of origin labelling (COOL).

He said that at present no final decision has been taken in the WTO panel on COOL but if the decision goes against the US, then it is expected that the US government could appeal.

He said that to prevent damage to the US pig meat trade, the NPPC will be "vehemently" urging the government to comply with the WTO.

He stressed that no final public decision has yet been made, but he warned that the US cannot allow itself to be caught up in a retaliation war as it was with the Mexican trucking dispute.

 

ThePigSite Newsdesk

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