03/07/05 What`s new with beef?, Pt. 1

03/07/05 What`s new with beef?, Pt. 1

Today is March Seventh. By U.S.D.A.'s calculations, today was to be the day our border was to reopen to Canadian live cattle thirty months or younger, and many beef products from cattle that same age range. But R-C.A.L.F. U.S.A.'s successful temporary court injunction to halt the reopening prevented that from happening. So now what? The potential answers could lay the groundwork for the latest plot twists in what to some may seem to be an on-going saga with several changes in direction & some expected, to others perhaps full of surprise. Let's start with the injunction. To R-C.A.L.F. U.S.A. it means preparing for another hearing in federal court to ask for a permanent injunction. To U.S.D.A. Secretary Mike Johanns, it means a disappointment, but in his opinion, just a procedural delay as Judge Richard Cebull considers the merits of the case, and a temporary roadblock in getting Canadian live cattle back into the U.S. But a glimpse of the court ruling's potential future impacts were expressed, although indirectly, at a U.S. House Ag Committee hearing. That hearing occurred the day before Cebull's ruling, when the March Seventh resumption date was still in effect in the minds of most of the key players. But the irony of the hearing, which was to address the Canadian final rule, instead expanded into discussion of getting U.S. beef back into Japan. The reason for the expanded debate is the growing belief that if the U.S. opens its border to Canadian live cattle and beef, then Japan had better open its border to American beef. As a side note, there is debate among some in the cattle industry whether or not the American cattle and beef processing industry is one that stands alone, or is tied with the fortunes of Canada. But House Ag Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte said at last week's meeting, what that argument comes down to is perception. GOODLATTE: We can debate whether or not our system is intertwined with Canada's, and we can debate the backgrounds of the b.s.e. positive cows found to date all we want. But the fact is that the Japanese perceive that there is a North American beef production system. If we keep the border closed to Canada, I am concerned with give the Japanese a pre-text to keep the border closed to us. However, the Japanese may not have an option in dragging its feet in reopening the border to U.S. beef. Why that might be the case, plus how will U.S.D.A. respond to the Cebull ruling and how that comes into play, will all be covered in our next program.
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