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More than 100 agricultural groups, sale barns sign joint letterMarch 13, more than 100 agricultural organizations and livestock auction yards from around the country sent a letter to U.S. Senate leaders to seek help to prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture from implementing its proposed rule to allow Canadian cattle over 30 months (OTM) of age into the United States. "Canada's ongoing struggle with its Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy epidemic continues to disrupt international beef trade and continues to create hardships for the U.S. cattle industry when Canadian cattle and beef are mixed with U.S. cattle and beef," the letter states in part. "USDA's proposal is premature and will cause additional and potentially severe consequences for U.S. independent cattle producers. The following reasons justify congressional action against USDA's proposed rule and demonstrate that Congress should intercede to protect the health and safety of the U.S. cattle herd, the safety of the U.S. beef supply, and the viability of the U.S. cattle industry: 1. Allowing older Canadian cattle into the United States will further harm the United States' ability to fully restore lost export markets. 2. The full magnitude of Canada's BSE epidemic is still unfolding, but it is already much greater than what USDA has asserted and assumed. 3. Cattle over 30 months of age that originate in a BSE -affected country have an inherently higher risk for transmitting BSE . 4. As previously recognized by the Food and Drug Administration, and as recognized by international BSE experts, current BSE mitigation measures, principally the U.S. and Canadian feed bans, are inadequate to address the increased risk associated with older Canadian cattle. 5. Allowing older Canadian cattle into the United States will immediately harm the United States' international disease risk profile. 6. The financial losses to U.S. cattle producers will likely be severe if the United States allows higher-risk Canadian cattle into the U.S. market. A copy of the letter was submitted March 13 into the official record for USDA's rulemaking proceeding on the OTM rule. The public comment period for those proceedings ended March 13. The R-CALF USA CEO will hand-deliver the joint letter to U.S. Senate leaders while in Washington, D.C., recently. To view the letter, visit the "BSE-Litigation" link at www.r-calfusa.com. 0 None None Date: 4/5/07
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