R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard says the U.S. failed to raise the most obvious and compelling defense to the U.S. Country of Origin Labeling Act – its possible food safety benefits. Bullard bases that opinion on the statement of the international WTO panel that ruled against U.S. COOL in June. Now – Bullard says the importation of millions of pounds of adulterated meat from Canada provides U.S. citizens with a clear and convincing example of how they can rely on COOL to protect themselves from tainted imported products. He says the food safety agencies in both Canada and the U.S. failed miserably to protect citizens from these imports. Bullard says COOL empower U.S. citizens to achieve food safety for themselves by giving them the tool needed to immediately identify the origin of their food purchases and to simply avoid products from countries where adulterated food is produced. He calls COOL the most effective and efficient means for U.S. citizens to protect themselves from tainted imported products. To help demonstrate U.S. citizen support for COOL – R-CALF USA is circulating a petition through the end of the month. The petition directs the President, U.S. Trade Representative and USDA to enforce COOL and disregard ruling of the WTO finding that COOL is a technical barrier to trade. Bullard says R-CALF has nearly a thousand signatures already and hopes to get thousands more.