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U.S. appeals court reverses Canadian
cattle ban
(Note: The 'powers that be' are clearly stating that the health and
well-being of consumers is of zero concern to them in the face of the
temptation to 'go global.' Run amok, Language Deception, run amok.)
July 14, 2005
By Sophie Walker
Reuters
Washington, D.C. - A federal appeals
court ruled on Thursday that U.S. meatpackers can again import
Canadian cattle, ending a two-year U.S. ban imposed after Canada
discovered its first domestic case of mad cow disease.
The ruling means that imports of some Canadian cattle could start by
early next week, according to one U.S. meat industry official.
The U.S. Agriculture Department [USDA] was appealing a March ruling by
a Montana judge who halted, at the request of ranchers' group R-CALF,
a government plan to reopen the border and allow imports of Canadian
cattle under 30 months old.
R-CALF fought to keep the border closed because it blames Canada for
introducing mad cow disease to the United States.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns contends that Canada has
sufficient safeguards in place to prevent the spread of the deadly
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
A brief, two-paragraph ruling issued by
the appeals court said that after considering arguments in the case,
which were heard on Wednesday in Seattle, it determined that the
preliminary injunction "must be reversed."
"The court hereby stays the preliminary injunction order,
effective immediately, pending the final resolution of this
appeal," the ruling said.
A longer opinion, setting forth its reasoning, will be issued soon,
the court said.
Four cases of mad cow disease stemming from Canadian cattle
have been identified since May 2003.
The number includes the first U.S. incidence of the disease in
a dairy cow imported from Canada.
A second case of mad cow disease in the United States was confirmed
last month, but in a 12-year-old cow born in Texas.
While the injunction was in place, only Canadian beef from young
slaughtered cattle -- which are believed to pose the least risk --
could be exported to the United States.
American meatpackers supported the
USDA's case, saying shipments of live cattle were urgently needed to
avoid laying off workers and curtailing plant operations.
"The protracted embargo on Canadian
cattle and beef has cost the industry nearly 8,000 jobs, has set in
motion a fundamental restructuring of the North American beef industry
and has driven beef prices paid by consumers to the highest levels
since 1979," J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat
Institute, said in a statement.
Speaking with Reuters by telephone from Ottawa, Boyle said that trade
is likely to resume "sometime early next week."
R-CALF said it was disappointed by the ruling, but could take no
action until the court issued a full opinion giving its reasons for
the ruling.
The group said it still believes that the USDA "did not provide
significant justification for overturning a long-standing policy that
protected both the U.S. cattle herd and U.S. consumers from the
introduction of BSE," R-CALF Chief Executive Bill Bullard said in
a statement.
"R-CALF is confident that when we have a full hearing on the
merits of the case, we will demonstrate to the district court that
USDA's actions are premature and unjustified."
The final hearing of R-CALF's initial lawsuit to overturn the USDA's
plan to allow the Canadian imports will be held in Montana on July 27,
2005.
If that judge rules in favor of R-CALF for a second time, the border
could be closed again.
Thursday's ruling also was good news for
the USDA in its battle to persuade major beef trading partners like
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to lift import bans on millions of
dollars worth of U.S. beef products that were put in place when the
first U.S. case of BSE was discovered in December 2003.
Mark Stern, the Justice Department
attorney representing the USDA, had told the court that it was
difficult for the United States to ask other countries to open their
borders to U.S. beef when it continued to limit imports of beef from
Canada.
The new ruling "will definitely
help" the United States resume beef exports to Japan and South
Korea, despite concerns about the second U.S. case of mad cow disease,
said Richard Fritz, vice president of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
"It shows that science does prevail," he said.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan)
Copyright 2005, Reuters.
Additional related news stories:
Court
Lifts Injunction Blocking Cattle From Canada (Update2)
Bloomberg - July 14 (Bloomberg) -- A federal appeals court cleared the way for Canadian cattle to be shipped to slaughterhouses in the US, ending a two-year ban, after the government argued the animals don't pose a threat to humans from mad-cow disease. ... US appeals court reverses Canadian cattle ban Appeals court overturns mad cow ban |