The World Trade Organization ruled that the United States' country-or-origin labeling (COOL) rules gave less favorable treatment to beef and pork imported from Mexico and Canada than to domestic meat. Canada and Mexico both had brought complaints to the WTO after the implementation of the COOL rules.
The decision is not subject to appeal, but gives the United States time to comply and does not immediately alter the labeling rules, reports Reuters. While the ruling upheld an earlier WTO ruling that COOL violates trade rules by giving less favorable treatment to imported livestock, it reversed an earlier finding that COOL failed to fulfill its goal of providing consumers with information on origin.