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Public Citizen Applauds Senate Passage of Resolution Blocking Canadian Cattle Imports

March 3, 2005

Statement by Wenonah Hauter
Director of Public Citizen’s Energy and Environment Program

With the passage of S.J. Res. 4, which overturns the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) irresponsible plan to re-open the border to beef and live cattle from Canada, the Senate took an important step against the USDA’s overzealous promotion of trade at the expense of public health protection. 

The USDA rule was supposed to go into effect March 7, but was delayed due to a legal challenge by the producer group R-CALF-USA.  The rule radically changes existing U.S. policy and will allow the import of live cattle under the age of 30 months and beef products from countries, such as Canada, that have been designated as “minimal risk” regions for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.  Since 1989,  U.S. policy has been to only allow imports from countries that are considered “BSE- free.”  This policy has served us well; it is one of the primary reasons there has been no indigenous case of BSE in the United States.  And it seemed to suit our country just fine as long as the countries with small BSE outbreaks were minor trading partners. 

Given the flaws in the agency’s justification for this new rule and the inadequate enforcement of our own domestic regulations on BSE, it is irresponsible to allow the import of live ruminants or beef products from  Canada or other countries with known cases of the disease. 

This resolution is crucial because importation should not resume until Canada has a better handle on the scope of its mad cow disease problem, has achieved and documented full compliance with its feed rules, and the United States has better safeguards in place to protect against the disease. 

We urge members of the House to follow in the footsteps of the Senate and pass this important resolution.

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