Chicago - In retaliation against alleged Canadian trade restrictions, South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow has barred trucks carrying Canadian grain and livestock from entering the state unless the grain is free of Karnal bunt and wild oats and the livestock free of certain drugs.
"The Canadians make us do extra testing on grain and they depress our cattle prices by dumping their excess cattle on our markets, so I'm going to make sure they are following our federal and state laws," Janklow said in a press release.
The state highway patrol and members of the highway patrol's motor carrier division will begin the checks at the South Dakota border. South Dakota does not border Canada, and trucks entering the state from Canada would likely have passed through Montana, North Dakota or Minnesota.
The livestock drugs South Dakota will ban are dimetridazole, ipronidazol, nitroimidazoles, fluoroquinolones, glycopepetides and sulfamethazine. Janklow said the drugs are used in Canada.
Meanwhile in Winnipeg, Canadian Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief angrily accused the governor of South Dakota of political posturing after the state began stopping trucks carrying Canadian grain and livestock.
"This situation has nothing to do with safety, it has nothing to do with quality," Vanclief said. "This is a pretty narrow-minded, politically motivated action on the part of the governor of South Dakota." Vanclief said he had protested to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman in a telephone conversation earlier.
Janklow said late that the state highway patrol and members of highway patrol's motor carrier division would begin checks on the South Dakota border. South Dakota does not border Canada, and trucks entering the state from Canada would likely have passed through Montana, North Dakota or Minnesota.
"We made it clear to them that we expect the U.S. administration to make sure that international trade rules are respected," Vanclief said, adding that 40% of South Dakota's exports of corn and animal feed go to Canada.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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