U.S. group loses bid to block Canadian beef
April 6, 2006
Globe and Mail
Canadian Press
EDMONTON -- An American ranchers' group has lost its bid for a permanent injunction to ban Canadian cattle and beef from coming into their country.
In a court in Billings, Mont., United States District Judge Richard Cebull rejected the request by R-CALF, the Canadian Cattlemen's Association said in a news release.
The trade protectionist group wanted Judge Cebull to scrap the U.S. Department of Agriculture rule that reopened the border to live cattle less than 30 months old and boxed cuts of Canadian beef.
The case had been pending before Judge Cebull since last July.
He had issued a temporary injunction in March of 2005 that delayed the reopening of the U.S. border to live cattle for four months over concerns there weren't enough safeguards to protect consumers from mad-cow disease.
The appeals court overturned Judge Cebull's injunction last July and shortly after trade in live cattle resumed.
Hugh Lynch-Staunton, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, said it was good news for cattle producers.
"I'm pleased with it," he said in an interview last night.
"It looked like the judge may have let it drag on forever, because he was apparently under no legal obligation to do anything, but this brings closure to that chapter of the legal battle."
Mr. Lynch-Staunton said he doesn't expect R-CALF to stop fighting, though.
"I'm pretty sure they're not going to go home and forget about it . . . I think we can predict that they'll do whatever they can to make it difficult for us to trade into the United States."
No one from R-CALF could be reached for comment.
Mr. Lynch-Staunton said the next step is for the United States to develop rules to allow trade in older cattle and breeding cattle.
Since the border reopened in July, Mr. Lynch-Staunton said trade in cattle has reached about 80 per cent of what it was before the discovery of mad-cow disease in an Alberta cow in May of 2003 flattened the market. He said Canadian producers are making progress in Japan and other markets, adding they are still unable to get high volumes into Asian markets.
