The reason for the repeal of COOL was that our northern and southern neighbors complained that the labeling was hurting their exports of beef and pork to the US. Not so much at the consumer level but at the packing houses. The large packers didn't want to buy foreign livestock because they didn't want the cost and burden of separating the Canadian animals from domestic animals. So the Canadians and Mexicans were not making as much money selling livestock into US markets.
Canada and Mexico (Mexico was losing money on cattle) then filed suit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) claiming that the US was in violation of trade treaties. The WTO ruled four times against the US government agreeing with Canada and Mexico and told Congress that COOL must go. The Canadian and Mexican governments then threatened to place tariffs (read that as import taxes) on most all agricultural products going into their countries from the US. Congress folded like a wet paper bag.
To be clear, I am not a big fan of forced labeling. Whether that be mandatory labeling of GMO products or COOL. The reason is that over time (and it doesn't take that much time) the bureaucracies that control the labeling become saturated with industry insiders. Economists refer to this as regulatory capture. We just call it putting the fox in charge of the hen house. They end up making changes to the labeling requirements that benefit the industry or they water them down to the point that they have no meaning whatsoever. Organic farmers have been complaining about this for years with the USDA organic certification.
My biggest beef (yeah, beef) with the repeal of COOL is that an international organization is telling our congressmen what to do. They are to be our representatives, not the WTO's representatives. But, that may be a discussion for another time.
The Choice is Your's
Ultimately, what we eat, where we source it from, and to what standards it is produced is our responsibility. We are the one making the decisions about what we put in our bodies. We must be the ones doing our homework and finding a farmer in our area that meets our standards. If I rely on someone else to look at my food and say it's good enough, then I have no one to blame but myself when I end up sick from eating Soylent Green.
The lack of COOL, if the repeal passes the Senate, or any food labeling is irrelevant if folks make the choice to know the farmer they buy from and visit the farm where their food is produced. Yes, it means a little more work and a little more diligence on our part. But, in the long run, that work and diligence will pay off with healthier families and peace of mind when we set down at the dinner table.