USDA moves to allow fresh beef imports from Brazil
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2013 – The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) is proposing a rule change that would allow the importation of fresh beef
from certain states in Brazil, under conditions that protect the U.S. cattle
herd from foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
APHIS said Brazil has the veterinary
infrastructure to detect and eradicate an FMD outbreak. In addition, the beef
“would be subject to regulations that would mitigate the risk of FMD
introduction, including movement restrictions, inspections, removal of
potentially affected parts, and a maturation process,’’ APHIS said today in a news release.
Earlier this week, the USDA and its Brazilian
counterpart issued a statement “confirming their mutual commitment to
science-based rulemaking” and to addressing rules limiting bilateral beef
trade. APHIS said the rule change
proposed today is expected to be published in the Federal Register on Dec. 23
and that it will consider comments from interested parties received on or
before Feb. 21.
FMD is a highly contagious viral disease of
cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals that is only rarely transmitted to
humans. The last outbreak in the U.S. occurred in 1929 in California.
The National
Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which bills itself as “the voice of the
American beef industry,’’ applauded the USDA for taking steps that would lead
to expanded beef trade.
“Cattlemen
and women appreciate the administration's efforts to help expand export markets
for beef trade, based on internationally sound science,’’ NCBA President Scott
George said in a statement. “With 96 percent of the world's consumers living
outside U.S. borders, it's critical that we expand our opportunities to sell
beef in the international marketplace if we want to keep American family farms
in business.’’
The
plan came under fire, however, from R-CALF
United Stockgrowers of America, an organization of independent cattle
producers.
“[The]
APHIS proposal is irresponsible and will wreak havoc on the economy of rural America
that is certain to be harmed both by falling cattle prices and the increased
risk of disease introduction,” R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard said in a statement.
R-CALF stands for Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal.
Antonio
Carmadelli, the head of an association of Brazilian beef exporters, said the
industry welcomes the APHIS proposal.
“It is
something spectacular to open a huge market such as the U.S. for Brazilian beef,”
Carmadelli told Merco Press, the South Atlantic News Agency.
The
U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of beef, 11.6 million tons a year, of
which 1.02 million tons are imported.
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