990860 US Sets Plan For Shipping Hormone-Free BeefAugust 28, 1999Washington - U.S. Agriculture Department officials said they have devised a plan that will allow the meat industry to resume shipping “hormone-free” beef to the European Union. While a high-profile fight between the United States and the EU over “hormone-treated” beef has attracted far more attention, the two sides also have been tangling over U.S. shipments of beef that is supposed to come from cattle raised without any artificial growth hormones. The plan for resuming hormone-free beef shipments to the EU requires U.S. livestock producers to “develop written programs” -- based on guidelines set by the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service -- documenting the beef does not come from cattle treated with growth hormones. FSIS Administrator Tom Billy, in a letter to meat industry leaders, said the written programs would serve as the basis for independent audits conducted by the U.S. Agricultural Marketing Service or other third parties approved by the agency. “Each phase of the production of these cattle, from birth to slaughter and subsequent processing and final packaging activities must receive third-party verification” before FSIS will approve a shipment to the EU, he said. Billy did not say how long it would be before hormone-free shipments would resume. But FSIS will continue to require shipments be tested for residues until “the industry has demonstrated” the new program is effective, Billy said. Once that has happened, FSIS will propose testing no longer be required on every shipment, he said. Most U.S. and Canadian beef is produced using growth promotants. However, the United States has had an annual quota to ship about 11,000 metric tons of hormone-free beef to the EU since 1989, when the EU banned beef from cattle raised with artificial growth hormones. In April, the EU threatened to also ban hormone-free beef from the United States after testing revealed 12% of the shipments contained residues of artificial hormones. But just before the June 15 date for that ban to begin, the EU announced it was postponing action for six months because of encouraging progress in talks with the United States on resolving the issue. One month later, the United States announced it was voluntarily suspending shipments of hormone-free beef to the EU because of “deficiencies” found by the EU. Meanwhile, the United States continued to move closer to retaliating against the EU for its refusal to lift its decade-old ban on beef from cattle raised with artificial growth hormones. On July 29, the United States took that action, imposing punitive duties on $116.8 million worth of EU goods after receiving approval from the World Trade Organization. Canada also imposed duties on about $7.5 million of EU goods.
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