Foreshadowing TPP Troubles: Trade Ruling Nixes Dolphin-Safe Tuna Label
Corporate trade deals like the World Trade Organization (WTO) have been used to undermine or eliminate U.S. consumer and environmental rules for years, and last week it took a swipe at both. A WTO trade tribunal ruled against the U.S. dolphin-safe tuna labels.
Before dolphin-safe labels were in place, millions were killed when fishermen pursued the schools of tuna that congregate near dolphin pods, scooping up both in their nets. The WTO dolphin-tuna case has been simmering for decades — the first trade challenge dates back to 1991, a year after the United States first implemented the labels. The WTO has consistently ruled against the labels and in response, the United States has been steadily weakening the rules to try to comply.
Trade panels could quickly trump other commonsense food labels too. In a few weeks the WTO will issue its final ruling on Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for beef and pork and it is expected to favor meatpackers, not meat-eaters. Farmers and food advocates have been fighting to protect COOL from this WTO attack, but another WTO loss will make it even harder to protect these commonsense labels.
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And next year, Congress will vote on the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is even more hostile to reasonable food labeling and food safety rules than the WTO. Consumers overwhelmingly want to know where their food comes from and how it was produced, but these trade tribunals have never stood up for our right to know what we are eating. The TPP even specifically says that the trade rules apply to state labeling efforts, which could unravel all our efforts to pass GMO labeling at the state level.
This madness must stop. Letting consumers know where their food comes from or what is in it should not be considered a trade barrier. We have to stop joining trade deals that put profits over people. Tell your elected officials to vote NO on TPP.