Federal Judge Asked To Close Border To Older Cattle
A federal judge in South Dakota soon will making a ruling that could again close the United States to the import of all cattle from Canada. American cattlemen, who say they just want to keep bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) out of the USA , are trying to shutdown the program that allows cattle older than 30 months to come south of the border.
The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, also known as R-CALF, leads the coalition of groups to keep older Canadian cattle out of the United States. R-CALF makes several points in its campaign against Canada, including:
- Allowing over 30 month cattle from Canada will make it more difficult for US cattlemen to regain foreign market share. American cattle were shut out of foreign markets after an animal from Canada was discovered in Washington State with mad cow disease.
- The US should not relax its import standards until there is scientific evidence that Canada has eliminated BSE from its feed and that conclusion is accepted worldwide.
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The US should wait until there is country or origin labeling.
- Since its now known that BSE has continued to be a problem in Canada after the feed ban, the US has reason to be suspicious of high risk animals.
- Both the US and Canada need to let more time pass since the feed ban. Canada needs more testing.
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And, there should be health and safety risk and economic studies done before the border is open to cattle traders.
R-CALF wants the federal judge to issue an order stopping the United States Department of Agriculture from keeping the border open to older cows. USDA says its rules and procedures already protect the public.
There's an Associated Press story on the case here.
