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U.S. cattle producers support efforts to repeal Canadian border rule
On Feb. 10, thousands of independent U.S. cattle producers who are members of R-CALF USA expressed their heartfelt gratitude to a bipartisan group of nine U.S. senators who courageously stepped forward this afternoon to file a Joint Resolution of Disapproval to the Final Rule issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Dec. 29, 2004, that would reopen the Canadian border to live cattle and additional beef products on March 7, 2005.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY) led the charge, and others as well stepped forward to protect both the U.S. cattle herd and U.S. consumers from the introduction of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) into the United States.
Other senators who took the lead on this critical issue included: Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO), Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM).
"This is a huge step in the right direction for all cattle producers and consumers across the U.S.," said Leo McDonnell, president and founder of R-CALF USA.
"USDA is the federal agency charged with protecting the health and welfare of not only the U.S. livestock industry, but also the health and safety of U.S. consumers," McDonnell said. "USDA has summarily dismissed the legitimate and science-based concerns raised by independent U.S. cattle producers throughout the agency's rulemaking process. And, rather than attempt to address these concerns in its Final Rule, USDA continues to persist in its efforts to expose U.S. consumers and the U.S. cattle industry to an unquantified risk of introducing BSE into the United States."
The Joint Resolution reads as: "Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Department of Agriculture relating to the establishment of minimal risk zones for introduction of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (published at 70 Fed. Reg. 460 (2005)), and such rule should have no force or effect."
McDonnell explained that USDA's Final Rule threatens to expose the United States to products from BSE-affected countries that are produced under standards that do not even meet the minimal, internationally established scientific standards, nor do the standards in the Final Rule even come close to meeting BSE risk mitigation standards used by every other country in the world where BSE is known to exist.
"Neither U.S. cattle producers, nor U.S. consumers, should be excluded from protections afforded by the more rigorous science-based BSE standards recognized throughout the world as necessary to effectively manage the human health and animal health risks associated with BSE," emphasized McDonnell. "R-CALF is grateful that these senators have chosen to stand up for what their constituents want, and not cave in to the intense political pressure of the multi-national processor/packer lobbyists, who are overly eager to compromise U.S. health and safety standards in return for unrestricted access to lower-cost cattle and beef.
"R-CALF USA again is calling on the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and its affiliates to join us in encouraging widespread congressional support of this Joint Resolution of Disapproval," McDonnell said. "If our industry works together to pass this important resolution, we will send a strong signal to USDA that could result in the voluntary withdrawal of the entire rule by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns.
"Perhaps now, as a result of this Joint Resolution of Disapproval, USDA can begin devoting its resources and expertise to helping BSE-affected countries such as Canada to eradicate the BSE agent from their herds," said McDonnell. "This, more than anything else, will help to prevent the global spread of BSE, thus providing the most complete protection to consumers throughout the world."
Date: 2/24/05
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