Case Law Index
Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)

December 17, 1985 - March 1, 2011

This index provides a comprehensive though not necessarily exhaustive compilation of reported and unreported federal and state court decisions involving Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) that were decided on or after December 7, 1985. For those cases that have been summarized by the National Agricultural Law Center, a link is provided to the summary. The index will be regularly updated to reflect new judicial developments. The cases are listed in reverse chronological order.

The "Text" link goes to the freely available Google Scholar text of the opinion; the "Summary" link goes to a summary of the opinion written by the National Agricultural Law Center staff.

FOURTH CIRCUIT

Made in the USA Foundation v. Phillips Foods, Inc., 365 F.3d 278 (4th Cir. 2004) (citizen suit for false advertising of seafood as being produced in the USA)   Text

U.S. v. Shabbir, 64 F.Supp.2d 479 (D. Md. 1999) (mislabeling of food from foreign countries)   Text

Fifth Circuit

Piazza's Seafood World, LLC v. Odom, 448 F.3d 744 (5th Cir. 2006) (labeling of Chinese fish)   Text

Piazza's Seafood World, LLC v. Odom, 2004 WL 2998575 (E.D. La. 2004) (labeling of Chinese fish)  Text

NINTH CIRCUIT

Easterday Ranches, Inc. v. USDA, No. CV-08-5067-RHW, 2010 WL 457432 (E.D. Wash. Feb. 5, 2010) (challenging COOL regulations)

Easterday Ranches, Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of Agric., No. CV-08-5067-RHW, 2008 WL 4426004 (E.D. Wash. Sept. 25, 2008) (challenge to final COOL rules)   Summary

Kennedy v. Natural Balance Pet Foods, Inc., 2007 WL 2300746 (S.D. Cal. 2007) (pet food from China labeled as "Made in the USA")  Text

United States ex rel. Huangyan Import & Export Corp. v. Nature's Farm Products, 370 F.Supp.2d 993 (N.D. Cal. 2005) (country of origin and antidumping)  Text

Ranchers Cattleman Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of Am. v. U.S. Dep't of Agric., 143 F.App'x. 751 (9th Cir. 2005) (meat packing industry not allowed to intervene)

Ranchers Cattleman Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of Am. v. U.S. Dep't of Agric., 415 F.3d 1078 (9th Cir. 2005) (injunction barring the importation of Canadian beef)  Text

ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

United States v. Sigma Int'l, Inc., 300 F.3d 1278 (11th Cir. 2002) (mislabeling of shrimp)  Text

United States v. Sigma Int'l, Inc. 291 F.3d 765 (11th Cir. 2002) (mislabeling of shrimp)  Text

FEDERAL CIRCUIT

Bestfoods v. United States, 260 F.3d 1320 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (peanut butter labeling)   Text

COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Tropicana Products, Inc. v. United States, 2008 WL 312171 (Ct. Int'l Trade 2008) (concentrated orange juice from foreign countries)

Tropicana Products, Inc. v. United States, 484 F.Supp.2d 1330 (Ct. Int'l Trade 2007) (concentrated orange juice from foreign countries)  Text

Tropicana Products, Inc. v. United States, 2007 WL 2717874 (Ct. Int'l Trade 2007) (concentrated orange juice from foreign countries)

CPC Int'l, Inc. v. United States, 19 Ct. Int'l Trade 978, 896 F.Supp. 1240 (Ct. Int'l Trade 1995) (imported peanut butter and COOL)  Text

Am. Frozen Food Inst., Inc. v. United States, 18 Ct. Int'l Trade 565, 855 F.Supp. 388 (Ct. Int'l Trade 1994) (country of origin labeling on frozen dinners)   Text

Norcal/Crosetti Foods, Inc. v. U.S. Customs Serv., 15 Ct. Int'l Trade 198, 1991 WL 83434 (Ct. Int'l Trade 1991) (country of origin labeling on frozen vegetables)

Ass'n of Food Indus., Inc. (Pistachio Group) v. Von Raab, 9 Ct. Int'l Trade 626, 624 F.Supp. 1557 CIT, (Ct. Int'l Trade 1985) (action brought to prevent country of origin labeling)  Text