The US House of Representatives voted to repeal meat labelling laws yesterday (10 June) after Canada and Mexico threatened US$3bn in trade sanctions.

The House voted 300 to 131 to repeal country-of-origin labelling (COOL) rules on beef, pork and poultry, after the World Trade Organization ruled they discriminated against imported meat.

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Meat labels became mandatory in the US in 2009.

Earlier this week, Canada and Mexico said it would approach the WTO to impose "retaliatory measures" against the US for the regulations.

"In light of the WTO’s final decision and due to the fact that this blatantly protectionist measure remains in place, our governments … are asking the WTO for a special dispute settlement body meeting to request retaliation rights against the United States, to take place on June 17," a joint statement from government ministers in Canada and Mexico read.

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According to a report carried by Reuters, some of the biggest food and beverage companies operating in the US, including PepsiCo, Tyson Foods, Nestlé and Kraft Foods Group, wrote to lawmakers this week urging them to support the repeal.

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When contacted, Tyson and Kraft directed just-food to the North American Meat Institute for comment.

The North American Meat Institute said the passage of a bill through the House to repeal the labels was "an essential first step in rolling back the anti-trade law".

NAMI president and CEO Barry Carpenter said: "Everyone knows this is not about food safety. It's an issue of marketing, and that should be decided in the marketplace. We hope the Senate will move quickly to vote for repeal so the President can sign the bill and put this failed experiment behind us."

PepsiCo and Nestle were unavailable for comment at time of press.