COOL may be an ongoing irritant in U-S, Canada livestock trade - but steps are being taken to clear up another obstacle.
The U-S has released it's updated Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications series.
That series outlines the terminology used for wholesale meat cuts in the U-S.
The U-S and Canada agreed earlier this year to harmonize that terminology, using the U-S document as the standard.
Now that the updated U-S document is out, Canadian officials say the new CFIA Wholesale Meat Specifications Document containing the same meat cut terminology will be released in the near future.
USDA official Anne Alonzo points out meat production in the U-S and Canada is highly integrated.
She says using the same terminology will reduce costs of maintaining separate inventories and facilitate efficient trade between the two countries.
This week's updated U-S specifications are the first revisions made under the United States and Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council initiative, set up in 2011.
