Opponents of USDA’s new mandatory Country-of-Origin-Labeling (mCOOL) rule received a setback this morning. A federal judge denied the mCOOL opponents request for a preliminary injunction, which would have halted implementation of the new labeling rule pending ultimate resolution of whether the new mCOOL rule was lawful.
Opponents of the mCOOL rule argued that the new mCOOL compelled speech that was in violation of the First Amendment and that USDA’s new rule was an “arbitrary and capricious” agency action that was not in line with Congress’ intent in requiring country-of-origin labeling on fresh meat products. Furthermore, opponents argue that compliance with the labeling requirements will require fundamental structural changes in the American meat industry that will lead to discrimination against Mexican and Canadian livestock. (Disclosure: I represent North American Meat Association, one of the plaintiffs in this matter).
Read the rest of this post on John Dillard’s AgWeb.com Blog – Ag in the Courtroom.
