Legislation asks USDA to stand pat
A bill petitioning the U.S. Department of Agriculture to delay reopening the border to live Canadian cattle and beef products is expected to pass the Washington Legislature this session after both houses approved similar versions of the measure.
The amended House version, approved Monday, is expected to be the one to emerge from conference committee. It calls on Congress and courts to ensure that there is a sound scientific basis for opening the border with Canada and to “redouble efforts” to reopen export markets for U.S. beef.
The USDA imposed an import ban on Canadian beef after bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease, was first discovered in Alberta in May 2003. Humans who eat cattle infected with the brain-wasting BSE can be afflicted with a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is incurable and usually fatal.
The ban was scheduled to be lifted March 7, but has been delayed by court challenges.
In December 2003, BSE was discovered in a Mabton, Wash., dairy cow. The discovery prompted many nations to ban U.S. beef imports despite the fact the Mabton cow had been imported from Canada.
Final approval of this session’s legislation, called a joint memorial, would represent the first legislative victory for the year-old Cattle Producers of Washington, a group of some 250 ranchers who lobbied heavily for the bill.
“Of course, Washington state can’t tell the federal government what to do on international trade,” said Chad Henneman, the group’s executive officer, “but it sends a strong message that we really have some questions on some of the science, and that more focus should be put on reopening U.S. export markets before reopening the border with Canada.”
Several countries have said they would reopen their markets to U.S. beef if it could be source verified, Henneman said, “meaning if we could prove it’s not Canadian.”
The U.N.’s World Animal Health Organization considers the United States “provisionally” free of BSE, while Canada, which has identified four cases of BSE since 2003, is at moderate risk, Henneman said.
After having had a ban in place on cattle feed containing ruminant animal parts for eight years, the United States is expected to be declared BSE-free in September. Feed containing ruminant parts is believed to be the likely source of BSE infection.
In secret tests conducted last year, the Canadian government found that 59 percent of cattle feed in that country contained animal parts though the feed was labeled as “vegetable only,” the Vancouver Sun reported in December.
The USDA has relaxed restrictions on some Canadian beef products and in December announced it would further expand trade to allow importation of live cattle under 30 months old.
Last month, a federal judge in Montana granted an injunction requested by R-CALF USA blocking the reopening of the border to Canadian cattle until the group’s lawsuit against the USDA is heard. The government has appealed the injunction to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
R-CALF, a national cattlemen’s group, and the Cattle Producers of Washington argue that reopening the border would pose a risk to consumers and cattlemen alike, especially after Canada discovered two new cases of BSE this year.
“We want to err on the side of caution on this and make sure all the questions are answered before re-establishing trade,” Henneman said.