The World Trade Organization (WTO) did not take the bait: last month it issued its final ruling on U.S. “dolphin-safe” labeling standards for tuna, giving Mexico, sustainable fishing and the global environment a resounding victory. The verdict, moreover, is a win-win equation: a major step forward towards resolving one of the oldest trade disputes between Mexico and the United States, and a boon for U.S. consumers.
With this decision, the WTO brought to the surface facts that for many years special interests in the U.S. had submerged under water. The ruling found that U.S. “dolphin-safe” standards are discriminatory because they create an illegitimate distinction focusing on one method of independently verified sustainable fishing for tuna in the case of Mexico while disregarding extensive evidence of harm to dolphins that is occurring with the fishing of tuna in the rest of the world. It held that these measures undermined their stated objective of providing full and accurate information to consumers about harm to dolphins in the capture of the tuna bearing the “dolphin-safe” label, thus deliberately misleading them.
Click here to read the 16 May SeafoodSource story “WTO: U.S. dolphin-safe label too restrictive” >
