A positive BSE case in the United States is not expected to affect the ongoing fight to resume trade in live cattle with Canada.
“This simply does not change our position relative to reopening the border. We’re going to continue to aggressively pursue that litigation to a successful result,” said U.S. secretary of agriculture Mike Johanns after announcing the first domestic BSE case for that country.
An appeal hearing in the federal Ninth Circuit court of appeals is scheduled July 13 in Seattle, Wash. A hearing for a permanent injunction is scheduled in Billings, Montana, on July 27.
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“We are hoping our arguments along with the USDA will get the border open,” said Jeremy Russell of the National Meat Association.
The BSE case sis not expected to influence the appeal court’s decision.
“If the border gets opened by the Ninth Circuit, it is unlikely the Billings court will close it again,” he said.
If judge Richard Cebull in Billings decides to issue a permanent injunction, Russell said the government will likely ask for a stay so the border remains open.
“That is assuming a lot of assumptions,” he said.
“It depends how much money R-CALF wants to throw at it,” he said.
If R-CALF loses this case, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association expects the U.S. cattle producers’ group to circle back with another argument. The most likely is a fight for mandatory country-of-origin labelling, said John Masswohl of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.
“Their messaging now just shows the desperation they have. They realize now that people will start to see the basis of what their whole argument was is invalid.”
Being free of BSE in the U.S. was a major platform for the R-CALF case to keep borders closed. In a prepared statement, the group said Canada still has more cases and that the risk to the U.S. remains.
“All four Canadian BSE cases came from Alberta, the primary source of Canadian exports of cattle and beef to the United States, which suggests there likely are more BSE-infected cattle in Alberta that could be sent to the U.S. if USDA lifts the ban on Canadian imports,” said R-CALF president Leo McDonnell.
