U.S. gov't expects cattle trade to resume soon
Canadian Press
CALGARY — The U.S. government expects to be successful next week in overturning a lower court ruling that has delayed its plans to reopen the border to live Canadian cattle.
U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said Saturday that the four month-old injunction preventing the border from reopening was "ill considered" and not based on scientific facts.
"We're pressing hard, the Justice Department is appealing that injunction seeking to get that injunction removed, and I trust that we'll be successful in those efforts," Snow said in Calgary at the end of two days of bilateral trade talks between top finance officials in Canada and the U.S.
The appeal is slated for July 13 in Seattle and will be followed "very, very closely" by the Canadian government, federal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said Saturday.
Live Canadian cattle have been banned from the U.S. for more than two years since mad cow disease was first found on an Alberta farm. But both governments agree that enough safeguards are currently in place to resume trade.
Canada's beef industry, which has already suffered more than $7 billion in export losses, is deeply concerned about the Seattle appeal and another court hearing in Montana on July 27 where a protectionist ranchers group is trying to get the border closed permanently to all Canadian beef exports.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Cebull, the same judge who prevented the border from re-opening in March, is scheduled to hear a plea by the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund. The group is expected to argue that Canada's three cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy - the scientific name for mad cow disease - prove that northern herds are unsafe.
But Goodale said Saturday that the discovery last month of BSE in a cow that was born and raised in Texas showed that the border should be immediately reopend to live Canadian cattle.
"We believe that with the most recent developments in the United States, the rationale behind the judgment of Judge Cebull has absolutely evaporated - there is no justification for that position," said Goodale, who was also speaking in Calgary.
"And from the Canadian perspective, the injunction upon the (U.S. Department of Agriculture) as imposed by the court in Montana ought to be immediately removed."
The ban on live Canadian cattle has also been hard on the U.S. packing industry, which used to slaughter thousands of Canadian-raised cows.
In anticipation of the two court hearings later this month, the American Meat Institute has increased its lobbying efforts to get the border reopened. The institute warns that numerous U.S. packing plants could be permanently shut down if the border closes for good.
Meanwhile, Canada's agriculture ministers wrapped up three days of talks Friday aimed at having contingency plans in place in case Judge Cebull orders the border closed to not only live cattle but also the approximately 30,000 tonnes of packaged meat heading to the U.S. monthly.
While short on details, the emergency aid program is expected to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars and ready to be rolled out quickly in the event of a negative ruling.
Over two days of meetings, Snow and Goodale talked about a variety of North American and global trade issues. The two also toured northern Alberta's oilsands, where technological advances and proximity to U.S. markets is expected to triple production over the next decade from the current one million barrels daily.
Canadian Press
CALGARY — The U.S. government expects to be successful next week in overturning a lower court ruling that has delayed its plans to reopen the border to live Canadian cattle.
U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said Saturday that the four month-old injunction preventing the border from reopening was "ill considered" and not based on scientific facts.
"We're pressing hard, the Justice Department is appealing that injunction seeking to get that injunction removed, and I trust that we'll be successful in those efforts," Snow said in Calgary at the end of two days of bilateral trade talks between top finance officials in Canada and the U.S.
The appeal is slated for July 13 in Seattle and will be followed "very, very closely" by the Canadian government, federal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said Saturday.
Live Canadian cattle have been banned from the U.S. for more than two years since mad cow disease was first found on an Alberta farm. But both governments agree that enough safeguards are currently in place to resume trade.
Canada's beef industry, which has already suffered more than $7 billion in export losses, is deeply concerned about the Seattle appeal and another court hearing in Montana on July 27 where a protectionist ranchers group is trying to get the border closed permanently to all Canadian beef exports.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Cebull, the same judge who prevented the border from re-opening in March, is scheduled to hear a plea by the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund. The group is expected to argue that Canada's three cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy - the scientific name for mad cow disease - prove that northern herds are unsafe.
But Goodale said Saturday that the discovery last month of BSE in a cow that was born and raised in Texas showed that the border should be immediately reopend to live Canadian cattle.
"We believe that with the most recent developments in the United States, the rationale behind the judgment of Judge Cebull has absolutely evaporated - there is no justification for that position," said Goodale, who was also speaking in Calgary.
"And from the Canadian perspective, the injunction upon the (U.S. Department of Agriculture) as imposed by the court in Montana ought to be immediately removed."
The ban on live Canadian cattle has also been hard on the U.S. packing industry, which used to slaughter thousands of Canadian-raised cows.
In anticipation of the two court hearings later this month, the American Meat Institute has increased its lobbying efforts to get the border reopened. The institute warns that numerous U.S. packing plants could be permanently shut down if the border closes for good.
Meanwhile, Canada's agriculture ministers wrapped up three days of talks Friday aimed at having contingency plans in place in case Judge Cebull orders the border closed to not only live cattle but also the approximately 30,000 tonnes of packaged meat heading to the U.S. monthly.
While short on details, the emergency aid program is expected to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars and ready to be rolled out quickly in the event of a negative ruling.
Over two days of meetings, Snow and Goodale talked about a variety of North American and global trade issues. The two also toured northern Alberta's oilsands, where technological advances and proximity to U.S. markets is expected to triple production over the next decade from the current one million barrels daily.
