Cattlemen cautiously optimistic border will stay open

(Resource News International) — The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) is
cautiously optimistic that a U.S. rancher group’s latest bid to halt the
import of older Canadian cattle won’t succeed.

The most recent move by the U.S. cattle group Ranchers-Cattlemen
Action Legal Fund (R-CALF USA) began just days before “Rule 2” took effect. Rule 2 refers to the decision made
earlier this fall by the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) that Canadian cattle born on or after March
1, 1999 could once again be imported into the U.S. as of
Monday (Nov. 19).

March 1, 1999 is recognized by USDA as the
date on which Canada’s ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban first
took effect.

R-CALF on Nov. 16 filed for a temporary restraining
order in a U.S. district court in South Dakota, meant to prevent
Rule 2 from taking effect. That followed an earlier request
for an injunction filed in October.

Following the discovery in May 2003 of Canada’s first
case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), USDA
banned all live cattle imports from Canada. While the ban on
cattle under 30 months (UTM) of age was lifted shortly
thereafter, the ban on imports of older (OTM) Canadian cattle and
products from older cattle remained in effect until this week.

CCA communications director Theresa Keddy said a ruling in favour of R-CALF, however, could
reverse the USDA decision and once again close the border,
much to the ire of Canadian livestock producers.

The CCA does not know what the timeline for a ruling
will be in the U.S. court and Keddy explained that until a decision was made, it
was simply a waiting game. “That is the frustrating part,” she
added.

The CCA remains cautiously optimistic regarding the
outcome of R-CALF’s motion for an injunction. “We think our arguments are
based on sound science and the USDA agrees with us. So we like
to think that it won’t go through. They are very persistent
though.”

R-CALF believes Canadian cattle to be far more
susceptible to BSE than U.S. cattle and is worried that by
importing Canadian cattle, the U.S. beef industry is opening
itself up to the possibility of increased BSE infection rates.

In 2003, a case of BSE found in Washington state was
subsequently traced back to Canada. The U.S. beef export industry
suffered a setback as a result of the infected Canadian cow
and groups such as R-CALF are unwilling to take that risk a
second time.

According to the USDA, U.S. beef exports in 2003 totalled
2.52 billion pounds, worth US$3.19 billion. In 2004, that
number fell to 460 million pounds, worth US$605 million. By
2006, numbers were only half of what the 2003 levels had been.

According to Statistics Canada, Canada is the
first country in the world to get its products back into the
U.S. after having confirmed a case of BSE.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) believes BSE
entered Canada in the early 1990s, when infected cattle were
imported from the UK. Since 2003, the CFIA has confirmed 10
cases of BSE in Canadian cattle.

According to the World Organization for
Animal Health (OIE), both Canada and the U.S.
are considered to be controlled-risk countries in terms of
BSE.