DeLauro Statement on WTO Sanctions

Statement

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), a senior member of the subcommittee responsible for funding the Department of Agriculture, released the following statement regarding news that the World Trade Organization would impose $1 billion worth of sanctions for country of origin labeling in the United States.

"Today's decision by the WTO is yet another example of how our trade policy comes into conflict with consumer protections here in the United States. The American public wants to know about the food they consume, which is why Congress passed and the President signed into law rules that allow American citizens to know where their meat comes from. This policy is supported by over 90 percent of American citizens. Now, through a trade agreement, we are faced with either changing our country's laws or paying an enormous fine.

"This same situation can happen over and over again if Congress passes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a secretly negotiated trade deal that threatens our consumer protection laws. The TPP can harm our national food safety and border inspection systems, by empowering nations like Vietnam and foreign investors with additional tools to dismantle our public health and safety system. The United States has had rigorous food safety standards for more than a hundred years, since the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. We cannot afford to enter into trade agreements with countries that engage in food safety malpractice."

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