Last week ASA and the COOL Reform Coalition sent a letter to Congress emphasizing the need for a contingency plan for COOL, and highlighting Secretary Vilsack’s request for direction from Congress.

“On November 14, 2014, our concerns were underscored by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s statement that the COOL law does not provide the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the discretion necessary to change COOL requirements to ensure compliance with U.S. trade obligations,” the letter states. “Secretary Vilsack, a leading COOL supporter, made clear that USDA alone cannot fix a COOL problem with trade compliance. Congressional action is necessary.”

The letter states the COOL Reform Coalition does not oppose country of origin labeling requirements, but believes that modifications to COOL are required to ensure its consistency with U.S. international trade obligations and avoid tariff retaliation from Mexico and Canada.

“We strongly urge Congress to amend the current statute to include a contingency plan that would only take effect if, upon final adjudication, the WTO determines COOL to be non-compliant with U.S. trade obligations. A contingency plan would preserve existing COOL requirements if the WTO Appellate Body finds that the COOL statute and its implementing regulations comply with trade obligations,” the letter states. “Importantly, the contingency plan we propose would not undercut the defense of COOL or cut short the WTO process for its consideration. It simply puts in place a path for the U.S. to ensure its compliance with the international trade obligations that it has undertaken in order to avoid roughly $2 billion in retaliatory tariffs that Canada and Mexico would be authorized to take on a wide range of U.S. agricultural and manufactured exports.”

Click here to read the entire letter.