Judge blocks plan to expand Canadian beef imports

A cattlemen group argued the imports posed a risk to human health.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- A federal judge granted a cattlemen group's request Monday for a court order preventing the Agriculture Department from expanding beef imports from Canada over concerns about mad cow disease.
The group sought a temporary restraining order as part of its lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Billings.
R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America contends a USDA decision April 19 permitting Canadian imports of "edible bovine meat products," including ground beef, "increases the risk to human health and creates an adverse effect on the cattle industry."
The lawsuit cited two recent cases of mad cow disease -- one on a Canadian farm last May and one in a cow in Washington state in December that had come from a Canadian farm.
When Canada reported its case of the brain-wasting disease in May, the United States responded by banning Canadian cattle and beef. It eased the bans later to allow imports considered at very low risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.
But after the Washington state case of mad cow, some bans remained intact. Live cattle from Canada are still banned.
The USDA's decision to expand Canadian beef product imports was to have taken effect immediately.
Filed lawsuit
Bill Bullard, chief executive officer of R-CALF USA, said earlier the group sued after learning of the April 19 memo from USDA that said additional products, beyond boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age that had been permitted, could be allowed into the United States from Canada.
U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull granted the group's request for a court order.
Cebull said if imported beef products contain the "BSE agent," USDA's recent action "may result in a fatal, non-curable disease in humans who consume those products."
"Since there are no requirements that imports of Canadian beef products be labeled to indicate the country of origin," he wrote, "once those products cross the border, they become virtually impossible to recover or segregate if additional cases of BSE are discovered in the Canadian herd."
Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle lauded the judge's ruling. "Ensuring that we get this right is not only important for our nation's ranchers, but also for our export markets," the South Dakota lawmaker said in a statement.
On Monday, Bullard called the order "a big win" for consumers and the U.S. cattle industry.
The United States imported almost 1.1 billion pounds of beef and veal from Canada in 2002, a source of competition for U.S. cattle producers.
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