RED DEER – Legal wrangling to halt the movement of older Canadian cattle and beef into the United States continues in a South Dakota courtroom Feb. 29.
Judge Lawrence Piersol requested further briefs and legal advice at a preliminary injunction hearing held Feb. 19 in a U.S. district court in Sioux Falls.
“He is trying to see what legal options are available,” said Brad Wildeman, vice-president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. Wildeman attended the hearing where the CCA, Canadian government and National Meat Association were allowed to file briefs.
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The case against the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rule 2 was brought forward by the Ranchers and Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America with additional support from American consumer groups and individual ranchers who say the government is putting the U.S. at risk of BSE by allowing imports from Canada since Nov. 19.
The judge asked for legal advice as to whether there are aspects of the rule that could be rescinded.
“He did not appear to have his mind made up and is still open to influence,” Wildeman said in an interview Feb. 21. “We think when all the facts are out there and he understands them, then we think the outcome will be favourable to us.”
However, the course of these cases seldom runs smooth.
“The changing environment in the U.S. with the beef recall and food safety issue has perhaps changed the environment we are operating in,” he said.
R-CALF has alleged the USDA is not competent to safeguard the public and used the most recent U.S. beef recall as an example.
The Feb. 17 recall involved 143,383,823 pounds of raw and frozen beef products from Hallmark-Westland Meat Packing Co. in California. The company has been closed permanently due to charges of animal cruelty and mishandling of meat products.
The South Dakota hearing is not the end.
A hearing for a permanent injunction against the USDA rule to allow older cattle and beef into the country will come at a later date.
Since the first briefs were filed last fall, R-CALF has charged that the USDA failed in a number of areas to protect American public health.
It said the department did not give adequate notice to the public about the rule and the risks associated with consuming beef from Canadian animals older than over 30 months. It also places the American cow herd at risk from “a terrible disease.”
“In the OTM rule, USDA knowingly allows the introduction of BSE into the United States,” said R-CALF’s brief.
It also raises doubts about the effectiveness of the Canadian ruminant to ruminant feed ban because BSE was diagnosed in animals born several years after the law went into effect.
It also questioned the accuracy of Canadian testing.
