AMI Blasts Canadian Import Injunction

WASHINGTON - Mar 3/05 - SNS -- The U.S.-based American Meat Institute (AMI) blasted the facts used to support a preliminary injunction which prevents the USDA from opening the border to imports of Canadian live cattle on March 7.

The organization was amazed that U.S. District Court Judge Richard Cebull suggested there was a "rush" to open the border, when it had in fact been closed for nearly two years and the USDA adopted and slow and methodical approach to reaching its decision to finally allow trade in live cattle under 30 months of age -- a group of animals shown to be at least risk of developing bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

AMI Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel Mark Dopp said, "(I)t is clear that USDA has relied upon extensive analysis by internal and external experts, including the report of an international review team that has analyzed Canada's BSE prevention and control strategies. Far from 'rushing' to reopen the border, if USDA erred it was by not reopening the border completely enough, leaving it closed to imports that are perfectly safe, like animals thirty months of age or over."

Dopp added, "It is regrettable that the court has accepted as fact some of the assertions included in R-CALF's pleadings. We believe that when many of these claims are subjected to full scrutiny, they will ultimately prove wrong.

"The conclusion that U.S. beef will be stigmatized if Canadian beef is imported is ironic. The primary group creating this stigma is R-CALF itself. Canadian and U.S. consumer confidence in our beef supply is at record high levels. By attacking Canadian beef, which is produced in a way that is almost identical to U.S. beef, R-CALF is attacking its own product and stands to threaten consumer confidence on both sides of the border. As I've said before, calling Canadian beef unsafe is like calling your twin sister ugly."

Subscribers can read the full text of the article by Clicking here