• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Meanwhile, Bullard said R-CALF USA is proceeding

HAY MAKER

Well-known member
On October 3rd, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service changed the rules governing U.S. beef exports to Taiwan, prohibiting shipment to Taiwan of beef derived from Canadian slaughter cattle. USDA opened the U.S. border to Canadian slaughter cattle under 31 months of age following a legal battle in July of 2005.

The primary plaintiff in that case, which remains ongoing, is upstart cattle group R-CALF USA. And R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard says he finds it ironic that Taiwan wants to protect its consumers from Canadian beef, but U.S. consumers can't tell where there beef comes from.

"That's the real irony here, in the largest beef consuming market in the world, consumers do not have the benefit of a country-of-origin label so they can differentiate beef produced exclusively from animals born and raised under the United States production regime, versus beef produced in a foreign production regime," Bullard said. "So we need to implement country-of-origin labeling just as we've done so for fish and shellfish, and our U.S. consumers deserve that."

Congress included mandatory country-of-origin meat labeling in the 2002 farm bill, but it has never been implemented for beef or pork. That's because Congressional appropriators have twice blocked USDA from spending money to implement the program for red meat.

Meanwhile, Bullard said R-CALF USA is proceeding with its case against the USDA rule allowing young Canadian slaughter cattle back into U.S. packing plants. Judge Richard Cebull of the U.S. District Court of Montana refused to hear the case after a panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of USDA last year.

Bullard says, especially in light of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) cases in relatively young Canadian cattle since the 9th Circuit panel's decision, R-CALF decided it would appeal to the 9th Circuit, and hopes for a decision that would force Cebull to hear arguments in the case. Bullard said there's no timeline for a decision from the 9th Circuit, but that another ruling in favor of USDA would effectively end R-CALF's case.
 
Top