U.S. border reopened to Canadian cattle
The American border is "immediately" open to Canadian cattle following a court decision that overturned a temporary injunction banning their importation because of fears of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease.
"The ruling is effective immediately, we are immediately taking steps to resume the importation of cattle under 30 months of age from Canada," said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns in a late night statement.
The decision by the three-judge panel of the federal appeals court was released a day after the U.S. Department of Agriculture asked the court to strike down a lower court decision that kept cattle from crossing the border.
"I applaud today's [Thursday's] ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ... We have been safely importing boneless boxed beef from Canada since September 2003, and now we will use the scientific approach laid-out in our minimal risk rule to once again safely import live Canadian cattle for processing," the statement said.
"This is great news for the future of the U.S. beef industry, specifically the many ranchers, feeders, and processing plants that have been struggling to make ends meet due to the closed border."
However it is not clear what the decision means for a July 27 hearing scheduled for a Montana court, where Judge Richard Cebull â who granted the temporary injunction â was to hear arguments on making the injunction permanent.
The USDA had been ready to reopen the border on March 7, but the ranchers lobby group R-CALF convinced a Montana judge to block that decision, arguing that Canada doesn't adequately test for mad cow disease.
On July 27, Cebull will hear R-CALF's application to extend the trade ban indefinitely.
The U.S. closed its border to Canadian beef in May 2003, after the first case of BSE in a Canadian-born cow was confirmed. There have been two other positive cases since then, and the first case of BSE in the U.S. â an infected cow in Washington state in December 2003 â had been born in Canada.
Last month, the U.S. confirmed its first case of BSE in a U.S.-born cow.
The U.S. resumed the import of some cuts of Canadian beef in August 2003, but still won't allow cattle to cross the border. It had planned to start by allowing animals under the age of 30 months into the country.