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News Update
July 27, 2005


Court Issues Opinion

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued its opinion explaining its July 14 decision to overturn an earlier ruling by a Montana district court that granted a temporary injunction blocking Canadian live cattle imports. The appeals court ruling lifted the injunction against importation of live cattle under 30 months of age, allowing for the first Canadian imports last week.

Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) originally argued for the injunction in an attempt to suspend trade plans until the group’s full lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) could be carried out — litigation that disputes the safety of Canadian beef products due to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and requests the USDA’s Final Rule deeming Canada a minimal-risk region be overturned.

However, Judge A. Wallace Tashima, who wrote the opinion for the three-judge panel, said the district court overstated the harm that would result from USDA’s rule. Tashima noted that any increased risk to human and animal health related to the Final Rule is negligible, based on the low incidence of BSE in Canada, numerous U.S. safeguards against BSE, the lack of any Canadian cattle under 30 months of age found with BSE, and the lack of any case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) attributable to Canadian beef. The court also rejected the possibility of a stigma harming the American beef industry or the possibility of irreparable economic harm.

Tashima wrote, “Contrary to the district court’s conclusion, we conclude that the Final Rule will likely survive judicial scrutiny under the correct legal standard; thus, R-CALF has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its action. We also conclude that R-CALF has failed to make the requisite showing of irreparable harm.”

To read the full opinion, visit www.ca9.uscourts.gov.


Trade Act Denied

The U.S. House of Representatives turned down the Trade Rights Enforcement Act yesterday, Reuters reported. The legislation called for the ability of “U.S. companies to seek duties against ‘subsidized’ imports from China and other non-market economies,” the article stated. The bill, introduced by Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.), also contained language regarding the Japanese beef ban. According to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a portion of the bill called for the U.S. Trade Representative to “place particular emphasis on trade barriers imposed by Japan, specifically the Japanese trade ban on United States beef without scientific justification. …”

According to the Reuters article, some Republicans had hoped the bill would garner support for the U.S.-Dominican Republic and Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), which has already met Senate approval and is expected to come under a House vote sometime this week.


— by Crystal Albers, Angus Productions Inc., associate editor

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