R-CALF USA may be defined as a non-profit producer organization, but our work benefits anyone who eats meat and lives in an economy that includes agriculture. We’re more than a producer organization; we’re your organization!
The COOL ruling by the World Trade Organization (WTO) runs afoul of U.S. court decisions. The WTO is again recommending that the United States take steps to bring COOL into compliance with the WTO’s interpretation of the United States’ obligations under the world’s international trade laws. R-CALF USA believes that Congress should not capitulate to the WTO’s efforts to weaken our COOL law, and is urging the United States to exercise its right to appeal this decision.
Instead of COOL, the WTO is promoting its own “Made in the World” initiative. The WTO initiative has its own logo and is intended to promote global supply chains rather than domestic supply chains. This fits perfectly with what NCBA and major meatpackers want to see. Unlike the WTO, our U.S. courts are upholding COOL. The NCBA has failed to convince U.S. courts to declare COOL unconstitutional and contrary to U.S. statutes. Instead, U.S. courts have consistently upheld our COOL law.
Unfortunately, the government is continually funding the NCBA through the national Beef Checkoff Program, which the U.S. Supreme Court has determined is a program that disseminates government speech, so NCBA can lead its anti-COOL campaign on behalf of the multinational meatpackers that have been trying to defeat COOL ever since its inception.
Frustrated with the current Checkoff system, R-CALF USA recently sent a letter to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. In this letter, R-CALF USA provided a list of primary and secondary elements to be included in any future beef checkoff program. The letter addresses the Secretary’s plan to establish a new beef checkoff program under the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996.
In a recently filed lawsuit against Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Organizations for Competitive Markets (OCM) alleges that the OIG is unlawfully withholding records regarding the agency’s investigation into the national beef checkoff program. Those secret records are particularly important because the OIG officially withdrew its original report that erroneously concluded that the USDA and the NCBA were operating the beef checkoff program in accordance with the law and that checkoff funds were being properly spent. The OIG later re-issued its report and stated that the facts uncovered during its investigation did not support its original conclusions.
This lawsuit may help get to the bottom of these bizarre circumstances that strongly suggest that both the USDA and the OIG are involved in a serious cover-up designed to preserve the NCBA’s primary income stream, which is the tens of millions of dollars it receives each year from the beef checkoff program that is funded by mandatory assessments on independent cattle producers.
All documents referenced in this report can be found at http://www.r-calfusa.com.
R-CALF USA is solely funded by donations and member dues. Please consider becoming a member or giving a donation. For more info or to join, go to http://www.r-calfusa.com, 406-252-2516.
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