COOL Law Suit Dismissed

According to a Western Organization of Resource Councils news release yesterday, industry opponents to the U.S.’ Country of Origin Labeling or COOL have dropped their case against the USDA.
Field Reporter Greg Martin provides review of what had happened in this lawsuit since it was filed in July of 2013.
Martin: “The challengers to the COOL law (including meatpacking and allied livestock commodity groups in the United States, Canada and Mexico) lost three rounds of court decisions. The initial request for immediate injunctive relief was rejected by the U.S. District Court in September 2013; a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed that ruling in March 2014, and the entire circuit appeals court overwhelmingly upheld the legitimacy of COOL labels in July. The meatpacker plaintiffs choose not to appeal these recurring defeats to the U.S. Supreme Court and agreed to have their case dismissed.The meatpacker challengers alleged the COOL law violated their constitutional right to free speech by requiring meat processors to affix the COOL labels. They also alleged that USDA had overreached its statutory authority by requiring retailers to affix labels specifically denoting the country where each of three production steps — born, raised and slaughtered — had occurred.”