AMI to appeal COOL ruling

The American Meat Institute (AMI) is disappointed by and disagrees with a US District Court for the District of Columbia’s denial of a motion for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit to block implementation of the USDA’s final rule on country-of-origin labeling, but will seek an expedited appeal of the ruling.

“We disagree strongly with the court’s decision and believe that several aspects of the ruling are susceptible to challenge,” said AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle. “We intend to pursue them on appeal.”

Joining AMI in the lawsuit, filed July 8, are several US livestock producing organisations. In their complaint, AMI and the meat and livestock organisations explained that the final rule violates the United States Constitution by compelling speech in the form of costly and detailed labels on meat products that do not directly advance a government interest.

They also explained that the 2013 regulation exceeds the scope of the statutory mandate, because the statute does not permit the kind of detailed and onerous labeling requirements the final rule puts in place, and that the rule is arbitrary and capricious, because it imposes vast burdens on the industry with little to no countervailing benefit.