[MCN] Not COOL....Take Action!

[Matthew Koehler]

[image: Update from Public Citizen]


President Barack Obama and Republican leaders in the U.S. House of
Representatives are in a frenzy trying to muster the votes needed to bring
Fast Track to a vote.

“Don’t worry,” they say. “Fast Tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
won’t make it easier to offshore our jobs or undermine our food safety and
environmental policies.”

*That’s a ridiculous claim. All the more so because tomorrow, Congress is
expected to weaken our country-of-origin-labeling (COOL) law because the
World Trade Organization (WTO) has deemed COOL a “technical barrier to
trade.”*

Tell Congress unfair trade is unCOOL: Preserve food safety labeling and
vote “no” on Fast Track!
<http://qz.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8I%2FmNDXU90XPnZFjlWAF1XQNk7MHjOow>

COOL is a commonsense food safety law supported by more than 90 percent of
the American people. The law — which was passed by Congress and upheld by
U.S. courts — requires meat sold in the U.S. to have a label saying what
country it comes from.

Even as Congress attempts to deal with the consequences of the WTO’s attack
on COOL, there are some who are trying to expand our failed trade model by
forcing a vote on Fast Track this week.

Sadly, President Obama is one of those people. Just before the WTO’s ruling
on COOL was announced, he delivered a sales pitch for the TPP, stating that
“critics warn that parts of this deal would undermine American regulation —
food safety, worker safety, even financial regulations. They’re making this
stuff up. This is just not true. No trade agreement is going to force us to
change our laws.”

*The WTO’s attack on COOL is the most recent proof that, unfortunately,
we’re not making this up.*

Urge your representative to protect food safety by rejecting Fast Track for
the TPP.
<http://qz.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=wL%2Fk2sI3Jl9N3wzCiH%2FXgnQNk7MHjOow>

It’s time to learn from our mistakes. The WTO was enacted via a
Fast-Tracked trade deal. If we allow history to repeat itself by
Fast-Tracking the TPP, we risk exposing our families to more unsafe food —
like unsanitary shrimp from Vietnam.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration currently inspects less than *one
percent* of all seafood imports for health hazards. Even with these minimal
inspections, high levels of *fecal contamination* have been found in
imported shrimp.

These unsafe imports would skyrocket under the TPP and further overwhelm
inspectors’ limited ability to ensure the safety of our food.

*The House could vote on Fast Track this week. There isn’t a moment to
lose.*

Email your representative now to protect our food by saying “no” to Fast
Track.
<http://qz.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=jqkRv%2Bom1yjqF8DnI6qJQHQNk7MHjOow>

Thanks for all you do.

In solidarity,

Melanie Foley
Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch


Public Citizen employees are members of SEIU Local 500. We support the
right of workers in the United States and around the world to organize
freely. Union Yes!

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