Washington -- Concerned over tainted Canadian beef, U.S. Representative Barbara Cubin (R-WY) teamed up with a bi-partisan group of Western lawmakers today to voice opposition to a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposal to expand U.S. live cattle and beef trade with Canada.

“Expanding imports of Canadian livestock and beef will have serious repercussions for the American cattle industry and we urge you to withdraw the proposal,” the Members said in a letter to USDA Secretary Mike Johanns, the full text of which is included below.

Despite Canada’s recent discovery of the nation’s eleventh incidence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as Mad Cow Disease, the USDA has introduced a rule to expand eligible imports of Canadian cattle over 30 months of age.

“This proposal, known as the OTM rule, could seriously jeopardize the health of American cattle by exposing them to potentially BSE- infected Canadian cattle,” Representative Cubin said. “The last thing America’s hard-working cattle producers need is a bureaucratic proposal that could compromise their trading partners’ confidence in American beef.”

The U.S. has continuously outpaced Canada’s efforts to combat BSE, implementing a BSE surveillance program two years earlier and testing up to four times more “high risk” cattle for the disease between 1996 and 2007.

"It's important to our cattlemen and our consumers to maintain the highest confidence in U.S. beef," Representative Heather Wilson (R-NM) said. "I think the USDA should weigh these concerns carefully."

Montana Republican Representative Denny Rehberg agreed.

“I’ll oppose any rule that puts Montana’s ranching community at risk,” Rehberg said. “Montana beef is safe and it’s essential we work to keep it that way.”

The letter also lashed out against the USDA’s positive reaction to a recent World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) resolution linking the U.S. and Canadian herds by putting them into the same “controlled risk” classification for BSE, despite the obvious disparity in the two countries' BSE management efforts and infection rate.

“Rather than praise the classification – which creates the mistaken impression that no differences exist between the Canadian and American herds – the USDA ought to have challenged the OIE’s assumptions on behalf of America’s cattlemen,” the Members wrote in the letter.

Joining Representatives Cubin, Rehberg, and Wilson in the letter were Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and David Wu (D-OR).

######

June 29, 2007

The Honorable Mike Johanns
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
14th Street and Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington,DC 20250

Dear Secretary Johanns,

In light of the recent report of another Canadian cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), we are writing today to express deep concern with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) proposal to expand live cattle and beef trade with Canada (OTM Rule). USDA’s proposed rule would permit the importation of live Canadian cattle born after March 1, 1999. We, and the cattle ranchers we represent, believe expanding imports of Canadian livestock and beef will have serious repercussions for the American cattle industry and we urge you to withdraw the proposal.

Given the discovery of Canada’s eleventh case of BSE, it is becoming increasingly clear that Canada has not taken the necessary steps to protect its herd from the spread of BSE. Increasing U.S. imports of Canadian cattle and beef at this critical time would have significant negative impact on the economic well-being of American cattle producers, and could seriously disrupt our efforts to expand U.S. beef exports overseas.

Expanding Canadian cattle imports increases the possibility that a future case of BSE in a Canadian animal may be found in the United States. Five of Canada’s BSE cases occurred in cattle born after the March 1, 1999 date proposed in the rule as an appropriate age for importation. There is a very real possibility that USDA’s proposal would lead to the importation of additional BSE-infected animals from Canada, which would destroy years of hard work by the American cattle industry, the Administration, and Congress to restore the confidence of our trading partners in the safety of American beef.

Furthermore, we were deeply disappointed to read the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) resolution, which links the U.S. herd to Canada’s by classifying both as “controlled” risk countries, despite the obvious disparity in the two countries’ BSE management efforts and infection rate. Even more troubling than the OIE classification itself, however, was the USDA’s abandonment of the American cattle producer in the face of the OIE’s May 22 resolution. Rather than praise the classification – which creates the mistaken impression that no differences exist between the Canadian and American herds – the USDA ought to have challenged the OIE’s assumptions on behalf of America’s cattlemen.

The USDA could go a long way in restoring the confidence of cattlemen all across this country, not to mention our cattle and beef trading partners around the world, by withdrawing the OTM rule. Thank you for your timely attention to this important matter, and we look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Barbara Cubin and fellow Members of Congress