The National Farmers Union has shared a new study that refutes claims that Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) is hurting the Canadian cattle industry.

According to the study, authored by Auburn University Alfa Eminent Scholar and Professor C. Robert Taylor, it was “economic downturn” and other factors, not Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL), that caused recent decreased demand for cattle imports into to the U.S.

The study also found:

– COOL has not had a significant negative effect on the price paid for imported slaughter cattle relative to comparable domestic cattle. In fact, the fed cattle price basis declined after the law went into effect. “The price basis is lower in the six years since implementation of COOL than it was the preceding four years,” the study notes;

– COOL did not negatively impact imports of slaughter cattle. “Qualitative and econometric analysis of Mandatory Price Reporting (MPR) and monthly trade and price data cast considerable doubt on assertions that COOL negatively affected imports of slaughter cattle,” says the study. Failure to recognize the effects of imported and domestic captive supplies of slaughter cattle and beef demand uncertainty, along with other factors, played a larger role in reduced import demand than acknowledged in previous studies.

– COOL did not significantly affect imports of feeder cattle. “USDA monthly data on imports of 400-700 lb. cattle did not show COOL having a significant negative effect of imports of feeder cattle from either Canada or Mexico relative to placements in U.S. feedlots,” the study points out.

The COOL Reform Coalition, which includes several U.S. livestock organizations, recently called for immediate action to assure the law complies with international trade obligations but National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson says Congress should “stay the course on COOL.”