Nine U.S., Canadian and Mexican meat organizations have filed an initial brief as part of an appeal of a U.S. District Court's decision to deny a motion for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit to block implementation of the USDA's final rule on country-of-origin labeling (COOL). The brief argues that the trial court incorrectly accepted the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) argument. According to the brief:
"There is no such voluntary misleading advertisement here; AMS is the source of the alleged ‘deception.' No court has ever before applied lesser scrutiny for compelled speech in such circumstances.”