The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that American federal regulators acted properly when they lifted a temporary ban on Canadian cattle imports in 2005.
However, the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund (R-CALF), which initiated the case, has not ruled out pursuing it further and promised to work at keeping out of the United States Canadian cattle and beef from animals older than 30 months.
“This is only the beginning,” said R-CALF chief executive officer Bill Bullard in a news release.
“We commit to the U.S. cattle industry that we will move forward with an eye toward determining the best strategy to prevent … (Rule 2) from being implemented.”
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On Aug. 28, a panel of three appeal judges unanimously upheld an earlier court decision agreeing with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s move to open the border to Canadian cattle and beef younger than 30 months.
“Having reviewed the merits of this case, we conclude that the (USDA) considered the relevant factors and articulated a rational connection between the facts found and its decision to designate Canada a minimal-risk country,” wrote judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall on behalf of the panel, which heard the appeal in July.
The appeal was launched after a U.S. district court judge in Montana upheld the rule in April 2006.
Hall wrote that evidence from R-CALF “failed to convince us that the (USDA’s) review was unauthorized, incomplete or otherwise improper.
“The agency, at the time it made its decision, properly relied on studies from both the World Organization for Animal Health and the Harvard Center on Risk Analysis finding that feed bans were the most effective way to prevent the spread of BSE,” said the decision. “It bears repeating that the agency did not assume 100 percent effectiveness of its measures.”
Canadian Cattlemen’s Association president Hugh Lynch-Staunton said the ruling should put a stop to R-CALF’s “frivolous” legal action.
“Significant resources, both in terms of time and money, have been spent by Canadian and U.S. producers and by our governments on these unnecessary proceedings.”
American agencies also lauded the decision.
“While we’re gratified that the court reached the correct decision, there are still steps ahead to normalize trade with Canada after the debacle that this suit created,” said National Meat Association CEO Barry Carpenter.
Those steps include Rule 2, which would open the border to cattle older than 30 months of age. The rule would be effective 60 days after it is announced, and that could take place this month.
Canadian agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said the World Organization for Animal Health’s designation of Canada as a BSE controlled-risk country should “serve as evidence to those who would further hamper efforts to expand beef and cattle trade between our countries that Canada’s approach to human and animal health is based on sound, internationally recognized science.”
