A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, Supporting trade negotiations to remove barriers to country of origin labelling.

WHEREAS, in 2002, Congress amended the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require that retailers notify customers purchasing covered commodities, including beef and pork, of the commodities' origin, by means of a "Country of Origin Label" (COOL); and

WHEREAS, the COOL requirements were not applicable to restaurants, cafeterias, or processed foods; and

WHEREAS, the COOL requirements were designed to provide retailers with flexible labeling options that included bands, placards, pin tags, signs, stickers, and twist ties, for conveying the information in a legible form and in a conspicuous manner; and

WHEREAS, in May 2015, based on complaints from Canada and Mexico, the World Trade Organization determined that COOL violated United States trade obligations and threatened to impose retaliatory duties of $1.1 billion, unless this country removed the requirement that covered commodities, including beef and pork, be sold with a COOL; and

WHEREAS, in December 2015, Congress removed mandatory COOL requirements for muscle cut beef and pork, and for ground beef and pork;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Senate of the Ninety-Sixth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the House of Representatives concurring therein, that the Legislature urgently requests the President of the United States and the United States Trade Representative to strongly consider COOL in future trade discussions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that that the secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the speaker and clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the president pro tempore and secretary of the United States Senate, and to the members of the South Dakota Congressional delegation.