Cattle producers sue USDA
Eleven US cattle producers have filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in an attempt to stop the reopening of US borders to Canadian imports of live cattle born after March 1, 1999, and beef products from cattle over 30 months.
The producers claim that if such Canadian products were allowed into the USA, the risk of infecting US cattle with BSE and also put consumers at risk from BSE-contaminated meat.
Commenting on the USDA’s decision to re-open the border on November 19, USA CEO of R-CALF, Bill Bullard, said, “The OTM Rule will expose US cattle producers to severe economic hardship because of the reduced marketability of US beef as a result of commingling domestic product with potentially contaminated beef of Canadian origin. We have export customers who refuse to accept beef from the United States unless it is segregated from Canadian product.”
Eleven cases of BSE have been detected in Canadian-born cattle, seven since the beginning of last year.
