July 14, 2005

US government tries to overturn Canadian cattle import ban
 

The USDA is appealing against a temporary injunction that stops the resumption of transporting live Canadian cattle under 30 months into the US.

In March 2004, a ranchers' group called R-CALF, which represents a quarter of US cow-calf producers, had won the injunction from a US federal district court.

The USDA said on Jul 13 that R-CALF used questionable scientific reasoning to justify the continued ban on Canadian cattle imports.

R-CALF, on the other hand, claimed that the USDA is merely appeasing the American meat-packing industries. Reopening the border would open US livestock to risk of BSE infection, thus harming American consumers, it argued.

Another hearing has been scheduled on Jul 27 to decide if the injunction should be permanent.