Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is leading a mission to Washington, D.C. this week to reassert Canada's position that the United States must repeal its Country of Origin Labelling  (COOL) measure for beef and pork.

He'll also be stressing the fact that Canada will impose retaliatory measures if the US does not comply.

"The WTO has repeatedly ruled that COOL is causing serious harm to our integrated North American beef and pork sectors," said Ritz. "Our government will continue to make it clear that the United States must repeal COOL quickly or face retaliation."

The latest mission comes after the fourth and final ruling from the World Trade Organization (WTO), which reaffirmed that the US COOL measure is discriminating against Canadian cattle and hogs.

While in Washington, Ritz plans to meet with key members of Congress and US industry groups. Also making the trip, will be members of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, the Canadian Pork Council and the Canadian Meat Council.

Canada and the U.S. enjoy the world’s largest bilateral trading relationship. Eight million jobs in the U.S. depend on trade with Canada.