Cattle groups oppose beef imports from Paraguay
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| The Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has proposed a rule to allow imports of beef from Paraguay, but the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) are opposed to the proposal. APHIS said it “conducted a risk analysis and concluded that fresh beef can be imported safely from Paraguay under certain conditions, including verifying that foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has not been diagnosed in the exporting region in the past 12 months, the meat comes from premises where FMD has not been present during the lifetime of any of the animals, and the animals were inspected before and after death, among others.” |
| NCBA Executive Director of Government Affairs Kent Bacus said, “USDA’s proposed rule to allow Paraguayan beef imports into the U.S. is based on 9-year-old data and site visits that occurred in 2008 and 2014. Paraguay has a history of outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), and we cannot jeopardize the safety of U.S. consumers and the health of our U.S. cattle herd with outdated information. The United States has the highest animal health and food safety standards in the world because we rely on the most up-to-date information and the highest science-based standards. USDA should not proceed with this application until a thorough review can be conducted with current information that demonstrates Paraguay’s equivalence in animal health and food safety standards.” A USCA spokesperson said that group is also opposed to Paraguayan beef imports.The proposal is open for public comment. |
–The Hagstrom Report
