Cattle groups including R-CALF and the United Stockgrowers of America have filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in Spokane against USDA, seeking a return to Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling. R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard says when COOL was repealed by Congress the change violated the nation’s Meat Inspection Act, which requires that slaughtered meat from other countries be clearly marked.

He says the USDA erred when they originally wrote the Meat Inspection Act regulations.

However, Bullard says Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling corrected the problems created by the inspection regulations and needs to be restored.

Mandatory COOL was in effect from 2009 to March 2016 when it was revoked due to trade violations cited by the World Trade Organization.