R-CALF injunction hearing date set
February 7, 2005
— Also demands Canada tests 50,000 annually.
A hearing date of March 2 has been set by a United States district court judge concerning a request for preliminary injunction filed against USDA’s Final Rule regarding Canadian cattle and beef exports to the U.S. If granted, the injunction filed by R-CALF USA would prevent the border from opening to live Canadian cattle 30 months of age and younger and all Canadian beef, regardless of the age of the source.
Additionally, R-CALF has requested that Canada must test a minimum of 50,000 cattle a year to gain a true assessment of its BSE prevalence.
Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) filed a full blown lawsuit against USDA’s final import rule on Jan. 10, and then followed it up later in the month with a request for preliminary injunction against the agency and the rule to reopen the border. The U.S. District Court in Billings, MT, announced a hearing date of March 2 for the request for preliminary injunction. That is five days before the Final Rule is to be implemented.
R-CALF USA communications coordinator Shae Dodson relayed that R-CALF USA attorneys and USDA attorneys have been communicating on the actions that will be taken between the time USDA announced the Final Rule and the date it is set to go into effect. Newly-appointed Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns confirmed this statement during his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 6.
R-CALF and several other supporters have indicated they want the injunction until the risk to U.S. beef producers and U.S. consumers is fully known. R-CALF said that isn’t possible until Canada tests at least 50,000 animals for BSE annually.
"The USDA has a duty to protect the health and safety of the U.S. cattle industry and U.S. consumers," said Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF. "The final rule will liberalize and relax those longstanding protections that have been scientifically validated and the most effective measures we have as an industry to protect ourselves against the introduction of BSE.”
Bullard added that R-CALF’s priority is to prevent the irreparable harm the U.S. cattle industry will suffer if the border were reopened under the unacceptable conditions contained in USDA’s Final Rule.
According to statistics from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Canada tested 23,550 animals in 2004 and the province of Alberta tested 7,110. Alberta contains 60-70 percent of the entire Canadian cattle population. Just in Alberta, the target for testing in 2005 is 10,425 head. Nationally, Canada plans to test 30,000 head this year.
U.S. statisticians have indicated to R-CALF that Canada has tested 10 times fewer animals than Belgium where there are 1.5 million head. Belgium tested 300,000 and found 10 cases. It is thought the true prevalence of BSE in Canada is probably close to the same levels found in Europe.
Statisticians also said that if the U.S. returned to 2002 import levels from Canada, the chance of importing at least one case per year is a statistical certainty.
Additionally, opponents of reopening the border say there should be questions and research into why Alberta appears to be a reservoir for the disease.
R-CALF officials have said more needs to be learned about the effectiveness of the Canadian inspection system and the ability of the U.S. to monitor imported cattle.
The other questions R-CALF wants answered are:
• Where is the disease coming from?
• Does the feed ban work?
• Is the rate of disease increasing or decreasing?
• What are the consequences for cattle and what is the actual transmission rate?
• What are the consequences to human health?
Other industry reaction
R-CALF USA was granted an initial injunction to stop USDA from reopening the border to Canadian cattle last spring. At that time, USDA began the process of developing the Final Rule. Frustrated with the delay in reopening the border, the National Meat Association filed with the court a motion for intervener status on Sept. 16.
The judge deliberated and decided that because a Final Rule had not been published yet, there was no need for an intervener. Specifically, the judge said, it was not possible “for either the parties or this Court to discern the direction the case will take once USDA issues its final rule.” However, the judge did expressly leave open the possibility of future intervention.
The final rule, when it was published, rendered R-CALF’s original lawsuit moot. But, R-CALF’s latest suit establishes a new case in which the NMA is seeking permission to enter.
On Feb. 1, NMA filed a motion to intervene as both a defendant and a cross plaintiff. “R-CALF is exporting American packinghouse jobs to Canadian businesses,” said NMA executive director Rosemary Mucklow.
As an intervener-defendant, NMA opposes R-CALF’s effort to enjoin and delay the implementation of USDA’s new regulation reopening the Canadian border to imports of live cattle from Canada.
NMA’s cross-claim against USDA also seeks to bar the importation of beef from Canadian cattle 30 months and older until U.S. slaughterers can purchase these same cattle.
USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) released a “Response to R-CALF” factsheet last Thursday that provides detailed responses to the seven claims made by R-CALF regarding USDA’s extensive risk review in establishing conditions under which it will allow imports of live cattle under 30 months of age and certain other commodities from regions with effective BSE prevention and detection measures. The APHIS factsheet can be found on the agency’s Website.
USDA has up to three weeks to respond to the motion filed by R-CALF, but can respond anytime prior to that. Once USDA responds, R-CALF will have five days to make a final written response to the court before the hearing. — Steven D. Vetter, WLJ Editor and Sarah L. Swenson, WLJ Associate Editor
I have tried to find this "response to R-Calf" on the APHIS website, but have had no luck so far.
February 7, 2005
— Also demands Canada tests 50,000 annually.
A hearing date of March 2 has been set by a United States district court judge concerning a request for preliminary injunction filed against USDA’s Final Rule regarding Canadian cattle and beef exports to the U.S. If granted, the injunction filed by R-CALF USA would prevent the border from opening to live Canadian cattle 30 months of age and younger and all Canadian beef, regardless of the age of the source.
Additionally, R-CALF has requested that Canada must test a minimum of 50,000 cattle a year to gain a true assessment of its BSE prevalence.
Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) filed a full blown lawsuit against USDA’s final import rule on Jan. 10, and then followed it up later in the month with a request for preliminary injunction against the agency and the rule to reopen the border. The U.S. District Court in Billings, MT, announced a hearing date of March 2 for the request for preliminary injunction. That is five days before the Final Rule is to be implemented.
R-CALF USA communications coordinator Shae Dodson relayed that R-CALF USA attorneys and USDA attorneys have been communicating on the actions that will be taken between the time USDA announced the Final Rule and the date it is set to go into effect. Newly-appointed Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns confirmed this statement during his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 6.
R-CALF and several other supporters have indicated they want the injunction until the risk to U.S. beef producers and U.S. consumers is fully known. R-CALF said that isn’t possible until Canada tests at least 50,000 animals for BSE annually.
"The USDA has a duty to protect the health and safety of the U.S. cattle industry and U.S. consumers," said Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF. "The final rule will liberalize and relax those longstanding protections that have been scientifically validated and the most effective measures we have as an industry to protect ourselves against the introduction of BSE.”
Bullard added that R-CALF’s priority is to prevent the irreparable harm the U.S. cattle industry will suffer if the border were reopened under the unacceptable conditions contained in USDA’s Final Rule.
According to statistics from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Canada tested 23,550 animals in 2004 and the province of Alberta tested 7,110. Alberta contains 60-70 percent of the entire Canadian cattle population. Just in Alberta, the target for testing in 2005 is 10,425 head. Nationally, Canada plans to test 30,000 head this year.
U.S. statisticians have indicated to R-CALF that Canada has tested 10 times fewer animals than Belgium where there are 1.5 million head. Belgium tested 300,000 and found 10 cases. It is thought the true prevalence of BSE in Canada is probably close to the same levels found in Europe.
Statisticians also said that if the U.S. returned to 2002 import levels from Canada, the chance of importing at least one case per year is a statistical certainty.
Additionally, opponents of reopening the border say there should be questions and research into why Alberta appears to be a reservoir for the disease.
R-CALF officials have said more needs to be learned about the effectiveness of the Canadian inspection system and the ability of the U.S. to monitor imported cattle.
The other questions R-CALF wants answered are:
• Where is the disease coming from?
• Does the feed ban work?
• Is the rate of disease increasing or decreasing?
• What are the consequences for cattle and what is the actual transmission rate?
• What are the consequences to human health?
Other industry reaction
R-CALF USA was granted an initial injunction to stop USDA from reopening the border to Canadian cattle last spring. At that time, USDA began the process of developing the Final Rule. Frustrated with the delay in reopening the border, the National Meat Association filed with the court a motion for intervener status on Sept. 16.
The judge deliberated and decided that because a Final Rule had not been published yet, there was no need for an intervener. Specifically, the judge said, it was not possible “for either the parties or this Court to discern the direction the case will take once USDA issues its final rule.” However, the judge did expressly leave open the possibility of future intervention.
The final rule, when it was published, rendered R-CALF’s original lawsuit moot. But, R-CALF’s latest suit establishes a new case in which the NMA is seeking permission to enter.
On Feb. 1, NMA filed a motion to intervene as both a defendant and a cross plaintiff. “R-CALF is exporting American packinghouse jobs to Canadian businesses,” said NMA executive director Rosemary Mucklow.
As an intervener-defendant, NMA opposes R-CALF’s effort to enjoin and delay the implementation of USDA’s new regulation reopening the Canadian border to imports of live cattle from Canada.
NMA’s cross-claim against USDA also seeks to bar the importation of beef from Canadian cattle 30 months and older until U.S. slaughterers can purchase these same cattle.
USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) released a “Response to R-CALF” factsheet last Thursday that provides detailed responses to the seven claims made by R-CALF regarding USDA’s extensive risk review in establishing conditions under which it will allow imports of live cattle under 30 months of age and certain other commodities from regions with effective BSE prevention and detection measures. The APHIS factsheet can be found on the agency’s Website.
USDA has up to three weeks to respond to the motion filed by R-CALF, but can respond anytime prior to that. Once USDA responds, R-CALF will have five days to make a final written response to the court before the hearing. — Steven D. Vetter, WLJ Editor and Sarah L. Swenson, WLJ Associate Editor
I have tried to find this "response to R-Calf" on the APHIS website, but have had no luck so far.
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