Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Now Italy threatens with COOL

Canada has just beaten back the United States requirement that meats be labeled for country of origin and now Italy wants to do the same for durum wheat.

As was the case for beef and pork, Canadians say this would discriminate against Canadian durum wheat because the Italian grain and pasta industry would have to segregate Canadian durum throughout the importing, handling, storage and milling supply chain, imposing costs that would force Canadians to cut prices to retain sales to Italy.

While Italy has a vaunted reputation for high-quality pasta, it doesn’t say much about this top-quality pasta being made with Canadian durum wheat.

In fact, Canadians import pasta from Italy that has been made from Canadian durum.


The World Trade Organization ruled that the U.S. Country of Origin Labeling regulations were unfair and illegal and the U.S. finally withdrew them under the threat of WTO-approved tariff retaliation.