10/31/07 R-CALF sues to stop "over 30 month" rule

Washington Ag October 31, 2007 R-CALF USA along with ten other cattle and consumer groups is suing the USDA in an effort to stop the department's minimal risk rule from taking effect November 19th. That's the rule that would open the U.S. border to Canadian cattle born after March 1st of 1999, along with beef products from those animals. Bill Bullard, R-CALF CEO explains why the legal action is being taken against the 30 month and over rule. Bullard: "Now with the food scares regarding imported products that have increased significantly recently, now is certainly not the time to propose and implement a rule, that will have a virtual certainty of importing infected animals and potential infected meat into the United States. The USDA is not doing its job and we are stepping up to the plate to protect our industry." Bullard says commingling domestic product with potentially BSE contaminated beef from Canada would reduce the marketability of U.S. beef. Bullard: "In the previous cases of BSE we saw our export customers close their border to U.S. beef and we still have not recovered from those closures." USDA does have rules that require specified BSE risk material to be removed from cattle during processing and not go into the human food chain. I'm Bob Hoff.