Legal/Regulatory News
OIE appears to back USDA in R-CALF lawsuit
by Pete Hisey on 2/24/05 for Meatingplace.com
David Wilson, head of international trade development for the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE, its initials in French) appears to have backed the USDA in its litigation with R-CALF USA, a rancher's group that has sued in Federal court to overturn USDA's decision to reopen the Canadian border to imports of cattle and beef.
R-CALF, in its suit, charged that USDA was not following OIE guidelines in determining the risk profile of a trading partner, particularly in light of questions about Canada's adherence to its own ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban. However, Wilson seems to be saying that the guidelines for minimal risk designation are not a hard-and-fast checklist, and that if the importing country feels that alternatives could provide the same degree of safety as the OIE guideline.
The significant section in Wilson's statement reads, "OIE would not consider it appropriate for the importing country to apply each criterion as an item on a checklist and to conclude the exporting country fails to qualify for a particular risk status merely because it does not meet a listed criterion within that particular status. In such a situation, the importing country would be expected to utilize the outcomes of its risk assessment in determining whether an alternative risk management measure could be applied to achieve the same level of protection. For instance, a deficiency in the length of time a feed ban has been effectively applied could be addressed through restrictions on the age of live cattle imported."
R-CALF and others claim that compliance with the Canadian feed ban was very low at the outset, and that it has not been effectively in force for the seven years OIE suggests. And by limiting imports to cattle thirty months or under, USDA appears to address that weakness.
Take care.
OIE appears to back USDA in R-CALF lawsuit
by Pete Hisey on 2/24/05 for Meatingplace.com
David Wilson, head of international trade development for the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE, its initials in French) appears to have backed the USDA in its litigation with R-CALF USA, a rancher's group that has sued in Federal court to overturn USDA's decision to reopen the Canadian border to imports of cattle and beef.
R-CALF, in its suit, charged that USDA was not following OIE guidelines in determining the risk profile of a trading partner, particularly in light of questions about Canada's adherence to its own ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban. However, Wilson seems to be saying that the guidelines for minimal risk designation are not a hard-and-fast checklist, and that if the importing country feels that alternatives could provide the same degree of safety as the OIE guideline.
The significant section in Wilson's statement reads, "OIE would not consider it appropriate for the importing country to apply each criterion as an item on a checklist and to conclude the exporting country fails to qualify for a particular risk status merely because it does not meet a listed criterion within that particular status. In such a situation, the importing country would be expected to utilize the outcomes of its risk assessment in determining whether an alternative risk management measure could be applied to achieve the same level of protection. For instance, a deficiency in the length of time a feed ban has been effectively applied could be addressed through restrictions on the age of live cattle imported."
R-CALF and others claim that compliance with the Canadian feed ban was very low at the outset, and that it has not been effectively in force for the seven years OIE suggests. And by limiting imports to cattle thirty months or under, USDA appears to address that weakness.
Take care.