050138 Beef Activists Ask NCBA to Oppose Canada CattleJanuary 18, 2005Washington - An upstart U.S. cattle group, worried about the risk of mad cow disease, urged the long-established National Cattlemen's Beef Association on Tuesday to join it to kill a proposal to allow imports of Canadian cattle. Shipments were cut off after Canada's first native case of the fatal bovine disease was discovered in May 2003. Earlier this month, Canada reported two more cases within days of a U.S. Agriculture Department proposal to allow entry of younger Canadian cattle beginning March 7. R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America has also filed a federal lawsuit to keep the border closed. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) supports normalization of trade and says Japan and South Korea must open their borders to U.S. beef before the March 7 border opening with Canada. In a letter to the NCBA, R-CALF president Leo McDonnell said if the two groups "join together to lobby Congress ... the resulting demonstration of unity by the U.S. cattle industry will undoubtedly convince Congress to act decisively to veto" the border proposal. An NCBA spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment. The NCBA has sent a trade team to Canada to gather information about Canada's safeguards against mad cow disease. Illinois cattle producer Jamie Willrett, chairman of NCBA's international markets committee, said in Calgary the team will report to NCBA's annual meeting Feb. 2-5 where members will decide NCBA's position on opening the border. Congress can overturn the USDA plan to reopen the border to Canadian cattle shipments by passing a joint resolution of disagreement. As of Tuesday, no such resolution had been filed. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, North Dakota Democrat, has filed a bill that would block imports of Canadian cattle until U.S. beef exports return to the levels they had before the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was discovered in December 2003. At that time, 10 percent of U.S. beef was exported.
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