COOL Has Canadian Livestock in Crisis

Data suggest sales of Canadian live hogs and cattle to the United States have plummeted by more than 40 percent, plunging the Canadian livestock industry into a crisis. The U.S. Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling law is being blamed as major U.S.- based processors refuse to buy Canadian swine and cattle due to the added red tape the regulation entails. Representatives of the cattle and pork industries are urging the Canadian government to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization, saying the law "clearly" represents a non-tariff barrier that threatens the livelihood of Canada's rural economy.

Jurgen Preugschas, chairman of the Canadian Pork Council called it - protectionism at its worst - without understanding what the ramifications are. The Conservative government initially looked at filing a WTO complaint but backed off when the Bush administration made concessions that softened certain restrictions, in particular on ground meat. But since then, the Obama administration has moved to encourage U.S. packers to go ahead and label ground meat.

The crisis enveloping the domestic livestock industry comes as world leaders have pledged to rip down trade barriers in order to get trade flowing again and mitigate further fallout from the financial crisis. The World Trade Organization has predicted global trade volumes are set to shrink this year by 9%.