Canada’s livestock sector disappointed with ‘Product of USA’ labeling rule

This week, the USDA published the final Product of USA labeling rule for the voluntary labeling of U.S. meat, poultry, and egg products. The rule stipulates that to qualify for the label meat must be derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the U.S. The new policy, which is being referred to as voluntary country of original labelling (V-COOL), is set to come into effect by January 1, 2026. President of the Canadian Cattle Association Nathan Phinney says it’s something they’ve been working hard against for years, as hundreds of thousands of cattle move both ways across the border. “Sometimes they are born in the U.S., brought to Canada to be fed and processed in the U.S. Some cattle are brought up and processed here and you know, in some circumstances, some go South of the border are fed and processed there.” he adds “We have the largest integrated beef supply chain in Canada, the US and the world, and we want to strengthen that and not put barriers up that