R-Calf in Court Today

[farmers_son]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/03/02/rcalf050302.html

American producers ask judge to block Canadian cattle

CBC News
BILLINGS, MONTANA - A large American producer group is in court in Montana Wednesday asking a federal judge for an injunction to stop the U.S. government from re-opening the border next week to Canadian cattle.

The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) claims if the border reopens it will cause producers immediate and irreparable damage.

The lawsuit claims that reopening the border will increase the risk of importing contaminated beef products from cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) into the U.S. They argue that would shatter consumer confidence in the American cattle industry and create losses of up to $3 billion.

The group also claims Canada has failed to adequately test for BSE and that letting Canadian cattle into the U.S. could harm trade negotiations with countries like Japan. Japan closed its borders to the U.S. after a Canadian born cow tested positive in Washington state.

Late last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared Canada was a minimal risk country and the border would be reopened to young cattle, those under 30 months, starting March 7.

A federal court judge is expected to rule by the end of the week.

[greybeard]

They interviewed a reporter from the Billings newspaper on CBC this morning. If I heard him right, he said R-CALF is going to say USDA is understating the risks from BSE. Not the risk from Canadian cattle, but the disease itself. If that is the case, then my view of an R-Calf member just changed. I used to look at them as ranchers the same as us, being prayed upon by scam-artists taking an opportunity to make a quick buck by parroting back to them the things they want to hear. But this is fanaticism. Webster’s describes fanatic as: marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion <they're fanatic about politics>. They are fanatic about keeping the border closed, and will risk their own market to do it. This is the equivalent of chicken producers highlighting a pandemic due to avian flu by saying it is coming in with imports now.
I’m starting to think the American people as a whole are to easily led by spin doctors.
All they need to do is convice some small town judge BSE is more dangerous than USDA says it is.

[farmers_son]

And that is what they did.

See http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/03/02/rcalf050302.html

U.S. judge grants temporary injunction in case to block Canadian cattle

[farmers_son]

Guess who the judge was? None other than the same U.S. District Justice Richard Cebull who granted the R-Calf injunction in 2004.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=545024

BILLINGS, Mont. Mar 2, 2005 — A federal judge on Wednesday granted a livestock group's request to postpone reopening the border to cattle and expanded beef imports from Canada because of concerns about mad cow disease in that country.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture had planned to reopen the border beginning Monday.

But following arguments from livestock interests that the government's plan was premature, U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull granted a temporary court order preventing it from going into effect.

R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture in January, seeking to block Canadian cattle and beef imports. The Billings-based ranchers' group contends the USDA plan would pose a risk to both consumers and U.S. cattle producers.

The cattle organization had asked the judge to keep the USDA from implementing the plan until the lawsuit is heard. Cebull ordered attorneys for both sides to prepare for a trial in that case.

The group's attorney, Cliff Edwards, told Cebull in court Wednesday it would be "insane" to allow the import of cattle from a country that has already reported two new cases of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, this year.

An attorney for the government, Lisa Olson, argued that the plan was as safe as it possibly could be.


Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[farmers_son]

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2005/03/0072.xml

Statement By Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns Regarding The Temporary Injunction Issued By The U.S. District Court For The District Of Montana Regarding USDA's Minimal-Risk Rule

March 2, 2005

"I am very disappointed in today's ruling by the court to temporarily delay the implementation of USDA's minimal-risk rule, which would re-establish trade with Canada for live cattle under 30 months of age.

"USDA remains confident that the requirements of the minimal-risk rule, in combination with the animal and public health measures already in place in the United States and Canada, provide the utmost protection to both U.S. consumers and livestock. We also remain fully confident in the underlying risk assessment, developed in accordance with the OIE guidelines, which determined Canada to be a minimal risk region.

"Today's ruling is not a reflection on the substance of the minimal-risk rule, but rather a procedural delay while the judge considers the merits of the case. We continue to believe that international trade in beef, founded on science-based regulations, should be re-established in an expeditious manner."

[farmers_son]

There is a source of good information about the United States Courts of the Ninth Circuit which is the court that would hear an appeal of Judge Bullick's decision if that is what happens. See:
http://www.ce9.uscourts.gov/

This site also contains a link to a pdf file "Understanding the Federal Courts" Very interesting...See:
http://www.uscourts.gov/UFC99.pdf

[farmers_son]

FYI: Judge Richard Cebull's decision can be viewed at:

http://www.r-calfusa.com/BSE/Order%20and%20Opinion%203-2-05.pdf