The impact of WTO’s ruling to eliminate COOL in US food products

An article in the url (http://info.usa-c.com/2013/05/06/wto-may-23rd-and-cool/) reports on a World Trade Organization ruling requiring US food products to stop the Country of origin labeling (COOL) on food products after May 23, 2013. The WTO ruled that COOL labels are barriers to entry for food from Mexico and Canada. But other studies suggest that consumers did want to understand their food sources and use that data to make purchase decisions. Another organization that provides the “Made in USA Certified” label (http://info.usa-c.com/) claims to audit supply chains to verify compliance with the claim. Should US consumers demand such supply chain audited labeling to assist them in making purchase decisions ? Given that FTC requirements for US content only apply to automobiles, fur, wool and textiles, is there a reason why food product labeling should be ignored ? If the supply chain involves animals that are born in the US, reared in Mexico, slaughtered in the US etc, how should labeling be enforced to be of use to consumers ?

About aviyer2010

Professor
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