Dive Brief:

• Tyson says it can no longer afford to buy slaughter-ready cattle from Canada. The company says the costs associated with new country of origin label (COOL) requirements in the U.S. make such purchases unprofitable.
• The move means that Canadian ranchers will likely have to ship their cattle when they are younger (so-called feeder cattle) to U.S feed lots, if they want to keep Tyson as a customer. 
• Tyson and other meat processors have complained that COOL requirements lead to soaring costs related to product codes, separation, labeling, etc. Canada and Mexico have challenged COOL before the World Trade Association.

Dive Insight:

COOL rules are meant to provide information to consumers, who may have concerns about food safety or who simply want to "buy American." But whatever the reason, we tend to support disclosure and transparency throughout the food chain. Anything that increases costs is unfortunate. But not everything that is unfortunate is also unwise.