8 meat and livestock organizations challenge COOL Rule in U.S. District Court
Eight organizations representing the U.S. and Canadian meat and livestock industries filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to block implementation of a mandatory country-of-origin labeling (“COOL”) rule finalized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in May 2013.
In their complaint, the meat and livestock organizations explained that the final rule violates the United States Constitution by compelling speech in the form of costly and detailed labels on meat products that do not directly advance a government interest. In addition, the organizations explained that the 2013 regulation exceeds the scope of the statutory mandate, because the statute does not permit the kind of detailed and onerous labeling requirements the final rule puts in place, and that the rule is arbitrary and capricious, because it imposes vast burdens on the industry with little to no countervailing benefit.