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Written by Sara Haimowitz
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Thursday, 18 June 2009 |
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Dear
Sir/Madam:
This will
take five minutes from your day. Tell the Office of the U.S.
Trade Representative to protect country of origin labeling for meat and
produce. CPA is making it quick and easy with online citizen action.
A
major trade issue is the importation of unsafe food and manufactured goods, and
consumer confusion as to the country making the food and manufactured goods. Farmers, ranchers and manufacturers have similar problems with imported product
that masquerades as
U.S. grown, raised or made. Consumers want to
know where their food is from.
A market based solution is to let the
consumer know the country of origin, so the consumer can decide. Country of
origin labeling is often referred to as COOL. (R-CALF United Stockgrowers of
America has this
comprehensive information page on COOL).
After a 14 year fight,
farmers and ranchers achieved a win.
U.S. law now says that meat, produce and seafood
must be labeled, at retail stores, as to country of origin.
Canada and
Mexico, major exporters of pork and beef to
the
U.S., are
challenging that law under the World Trade Organization rules.
The Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative has officially
asked for public comment concerning
this foreign government complaint. CPA is providing a way to comment without
going through the hassle of using the government system to comment at www.regulations.gov.
Click
here for an easy and quick way to
respond, either with our suggested text, or in your own words.
The
reasons to defend the law are:
1. Consumers have the right to know
where the food they feed their families comes from.
2. There
are 48 other countries that have their own country of origin labeling rules
for one or more of the products covered by the U.S. COOL law, and some are even
stronger than
U.S. rules.
3. COOL
was passed by our democratically elected representatives and signed by our
President in complete compliance with our U.S. Constitution that grants
U.S. citizens the sovereign right to govern
themselves. Our domestic, sovereign laws should not be subject to challenge by
foreign governments.
4. The
WTO has never gained the agreement of signatory countries as to what the
international standards should be on identifying and labeling the origin of
goods.
5. Consumers overwhelmingly favor country of origin labeling as evidenced by every
poll taken on the subject.
6.
Canada and
Mexico are free to promote the healthfulness and
quality of their products if they choose to do so.
7. There
has been no substantial effect on trade flows between the
U.S. and
Canada or
Mexico as a result of the U.S. COOL law becoming
effective.
Click
here to quickly submit your comment
to the Office of U.S. Trade Representative.
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In the news
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March 2-4, The Coalition for a Prosperous America
Legislative Fly-In
CPA will hold its Second Annual Legislative Fly-In on
March 2-4, 2010. This is a powerful opportunity for us to work
together to advance trade reform in the halls of Congress. We need to
bring the concerns of the grass roots to our legislators.
This is efficient advocacy, well worth your time. We make all the
meeting arrangements with legislators or their staff, we put together
materials, we plan a message, and we pack meetings together in a
concentrated period of time. You make a bigger impact with your time
using only three of the 365 days in the year.
Click here to sign up for the CPA Fly In.
CPA has a special offer--limited time only: the first 50 registrants
get a free copy of Ian Fletcher's new book: Free Trade Doesn't Work.
This is a highly acclaimed book about trade policy and the needed
changes therein.
Agenda:
March 2, 2010: 2p to 6p - Group meeting for training, talking points and team assignments
March 3-4, 2010: Hill visits
Place: Capitol Skyline Hotel, 10 I ("Eye") Street SW, Washington, DC 20024
Once you sign up with CPA, reserve your room at the Capitol Skyline
Hotel by calling 202.488.7500. You should book for the evenings of
March 2 and March 3.
If you have questions about the events, please call Sara Haimowitz,
Development Coordinator, at 413-203-1410 or email at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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