Senator to Hold Hearings On Canadian Cattle Rule

[Willowcreek]

DORGAN TO HOLD SENATE FIELD HEARING TO INVESTIGATE USDA PUSH TO RESUME CANADIAN BEEF IMPORTS IN WAKE OF NINTH CASE OF MAD COW DISEASE IN CANADA

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said Friday the report that a ninth case of mad cow disease has been confirmed in Canada is a clear sign that the U.S. Department of Agriculture needs to slow its effort to re-open the U.S. market to Canadian beef. Dorgan said he will convene a U.S. Senate field hearing in North Dakota later this month to probe the issue.

Dorgan, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Interstate Commerce, Trade and Tourism, said the Administration has based its push to re-open the border to Canadian beef on politics, not sound science. He said he believes ranchers should have a voice in this matter and he will chair the hearing in Bismarck on February 21 to take testimony from ranchers and other interested parties.

"Yesterday's report that another Canadian animal has tested positive for mad cow disease is disturbing," Dorgan said. "The USDA has no business opening our borders to Canadian beef before implementing a country-of-origin labeling system that will allow consumers to see where the steak on their dinner plate came from. I'll be organizing a Senate hearing in North Dakota to get to the bottom of this issue and I'll keep pushing USDA to approach this issue with science, not politics, in mind."

Last week, Dorgan led a bipartisan group of senators in a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns calling for a halt to the push to open the U.S. market to Canadian beef. In the letter, Dorgan said such a move would be especially outrageous given USDA's foot-dragging in the implementation of country-of-origin labeling.

[rkaiser]

I knew I could count on you Willowcreek to bring up more of your comic strip posts.

It must feel bad knowing that propagandas ads like this is all you have in your life.

Either self motivated greedy LMA,Rcalf manipulators leading you down their garden path, or your own Multinational packers using every tool known to man to gain control over you and goofs like you.

[Willowcreek]

Ranchers ready to voice beef with Canadian imports

By JILL SCHRAMM, Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com

North Dakota ranchers will get a chance to air their views on a plan to open the Canadian border to more imported cattle during a hearing today in Bismarck.

The Department of Agriculture has proposed to open the border to additional beef products and to cattle older than 30 months, which currently are banned because of concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. Younger animals are considered less vulnerable to the disease.

“We don’t think enough of our concerns have been addressed yet to change the rule,” said Wade Moser, executive vice president for the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association. “Our biggest concern is if, by chance, we were to import a Canadian cow with BSE, we would probably end up suffering in trade consequences down the road with some of the countries where we have tried to open up the doors again.”
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., is conducting today’s hearing at 10 a.m. at Bismarck State College.

Speaking to the media in Minot Tuesday, Dorgan said this is not a good time to be considering importing more Canadian cattle.

“We just saw the ninth case of mad cow disease in Canada. I feel badly for the ranchers in Canada but our job is to protect our interests and our beef industry in this country. The agriculture secretary seems intent almost to do a cattle drive from Canada to the U.S. I just don’t understand why, given what’s happened in Canada, he wants to move to open that border precipitously and quickly,” Dorgan said. “We need to stand up for the economic interests of our country, our ranchers our beef industry. We have the best, the safest supply of beef in the world, I don’t want to jeopardize that by reopening that border this quickly.”

The Stockmen’s Association wants guarantees from Canada and from American trade partners that if mad cow disease is detected in an imported cow, they will recognize the country of origin as being responsible and not the U.S. beef industry.

The association also is concerned about the number of cattle that might come south, particularly cattle headed for slaughter, because of the impact on prices, Moser said. North Dakota ranchers are estimated to lose more than $7 million a year in the next five years if the ban on Canadian cattle is lifted, he said.

R-CALF USA, Billings, Mont., plans to argue at the hearing that the United States shouldn’t give additional access to its market to countries known to have BSE until the United States regains the share of the global export market that it has lost over the BSE issue since 2003. At the end of 2006, U.S. beef exports were half their 2003 volume, according to R-CALF.

The organization also claims Canada has failed to implement practices used in other BSE-affected countries to reduce the incidence of mad cow disease and protect consumers.

The USDA has stated that risk to consumers from mad cow disease from Canadian beef is minimal.

Dorgan suggested Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns is moving quickly on the wrong front.

“If the secretary of agriculture has some time on his hands and wants to move quickly on something, he ought to move on country of origin labeling. It would give not only American consumers but foreign consumers an understanding of what kind of beef are they buying, what kind of meat are they buying. That’s the law of the land at this time and the secretary is dragging his feet on it,” he said. “Rather than have additional quantities of Canadian cattle shipped into the country at this time to undermine our market, to cause questions about the issue of mad cow disease, cause questions about the origin of meat that is purchased from our country, I would like to see the agriculture secretary implement country of origin labeling now.”

Dorgan said he also will be looking into a report that hundreds of Canadian cattle have entered the United States without the required health papers or identification tags. The report was based on documents obtained by cattlemen in Washington state.

Moser said the report might be inaccurate. Different standards exist for feeder cattle than for slaughter cattle, and there might have been a misunderstanding about the documentation required, he said.

[Willowcreek]

R-CALF Co-Founder Leo McDonnell Testifies



KTIC 840 Rural Radio

Feb 22, 2007

Nebraska, US



Bismarck, N.D. – R-CALF USA Co-Founder/Past President Leo McDonnell testified here Wednesday on behalf of the organization at a hearing on the policy implications of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) proposed rule on importing Canadian cattle older than 30 months (OTM) of age. The Interstate Commerce, Trade and Tourism Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation conducted the hearing.



“USDA is considering allowing into the U.S. OTM beef and cattle from Canada – product that is banned for health concerns from nearly all international markets, product that the U.S. cannot even export to our primary export markets,” McDonnell said. “USDA’s action will make the United States a dumping ground for beef and cattle banned from major international markets, and at the same time, U.S. cattle producers are being lobbied against by major importers here in the U.S. from being able to differentiate their product with country-of-origin labeling (COOL).



“Who benefits from these actions,” McDonnell asked. “Not U.S. consumers; not the U.S. producer.”



McDonnell also emphasized that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in not a North American problem, but a Canadian problem. Canada has tested approximately 140,000 head of cattle for the disease since 2004 and identified eight of those animals as positive for BSE. The U.S. has tested more than 800,000 cattle for BSE and discovered only two native cases, both of which were found to be carrying the atypical type of BSE.



“The science of typical BSE and atypical BSE does not support calling this a North American problem – it is a Canadian problem that seems to be growing in Canadian cattle born after their (1997) meat and bone meal ban,” McDonnell continued.



“Make no doubt about it – if USDA is allowed to proceed in allowing OTM beef and cattle into the United States, then the full weight of Canada’s BSE problem will be shifted from Canada and put on the shoulders of U.S. ranchers,” he warned. “You don’t manage risk by increasing exposure. Sound science tells you that you do not eradicate a disease by increasing exposure.



“The U.S. should pursue sound science that is practiced by our major importing countries, and we should strive to upwardly harmonize these import standards and practices surrounding health and safety, not lower them,” McDonnell urged.



Also, R-CALF USA believes that because the U.S. commingles Canadian cattle and beef with U.S. cattle and beef, it just isn’t logical to expect that Canada’s weaker feed ban, its inferior testing program, and its least restrictive SRM (specified risk materials) policies would help the U.S. restore lost beef markets and gain new ones.



Additionally, R-CALF USA believes Canada has failed to implement practices used in other BSE-affected countries to reduce the incidence of mad cow disease and protect consumers.



R-CALF USA Co-Founder and Past Director Herman Schumacher said the hearing went very well.



“Leo gave some very strong testimony, and Senator Dorgan referred back to Leo’s testimony on more than one occasion,” Schumacher said. “The Senator also asked some good, tough questions. He did a heck of a job.”



Note: To view a three-page summary of McDonnell’s testimony, or to view the 15 pages of R-CALF USA’s formal written testimony, visit the “BSE-Litigation” link at www.r-calfusa.com.



kticam.com

[Willowcreek]

Farmers Union Testifies Against USDA Decision to Open Canadian Border



Source: National Farmers Union Press Release

February 21, 2007



BISMARCK, N.D. (Feb. 21, 2007) – North Dakota Farmers Union Board Secretary and Solen, N.D. farmer Woody Barth testified at a field hearing today against the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposed rule to expand the list of allowable Canadian beef and cattle imports. Barth testified at the request of Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman of the U.S. Senate’s commerce subcommittee on Trade, Tourism and Economic Development.



“American producers and consumers deserve better than what USDA is proposing,” Barth said.



Barth stressed Farmers Union’s support for mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) and urged subcommittee members to support efforts to move the implementation date to September 2007. “Mandatory COOL is a vital tool to protect the integrity of the U.S. beef industry and for consumers to support American products at the grocery store,” Barth said.



“Until our neighbors to the north can demonstrate their BSE problem is under control and mandatory COOL is implemented, USDA should withdraw its proposed rule.”



Under USDA’s proposal, live cattle imports born after March 1, 1999 would be allowed into the United States. Four out of Canada’s ten cases of BSE, including the most recent confirmed on Feb. 8, were found in animals born after March 1, 1999.