ISSUES POLICY
APHIS Rule Proposal Could Devastate American Cattle Herd
O
N AUG. 29, 2014, THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUL- ture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspec- tion Service (APHIS) published a rule proposal
in the federal register that would allow the importation of live cattle and fresh or frozen beef from northern Argentina. APHIS would accomplish this by adding the Patago-
nia area of Argentina to the list of regions considered free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Associa-
tion (TSCRA) is deeply concerned with this proposal. FMD is a severe and highly contagious viral disease of cows, pigs, sheep, goats, deer and other animals with divided hooves. It is considered to be one of the most economically devastating livestock diseases in the world and poses a signifi cant risk to not only our country’s cattle herd, but also our national food security. It could also cost our industry hundreds of millions of dollars. I am extremely worried that if FMD comes into the
cattle herds — especially in Texas with the high popu- lation of feral hogs — that we could see an unstoppable outbreak of the disease. Pigs are more susceptible to the disease than cattle and with feral hogs being a problem in most of the state, the disease could spread throughout the country. APHIS conducted their risk analysis based on a
series of site visits to Argentina to determine the FMD risk status. TSCRA and other cattle industry groups requested written reports for these visits; however, APHIS informed us that written documentation wasn’t required for their site reviews. The lack of documenta- tion makes me question their transparency and ability to conduct an accurate and thorough review. Additionally, a third-party scientifi c review team
from the University of Minnesota (UMN) College of Veterinary Medicine reviewed the APHIS risk analy- sis. The review team acknowledged limited or lack-
96 The Cattleman December 2014
ing methodologi- cal approaches in performing the risk assessment and poorly-defi ned scope regarding the specifi c animal types and products for the risk as- sessment. There was also a lack of sufficient detail for geographical landmarks outlin- ing the Patagonia region in the risk analysis and maps lacking the nec- essary level of detail to be useful. TSCRA is also very concerned about Argentina’s
By Pete Bonds, president, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association
trend of compliance problems and defi ciencies with routine USDA and European Commission food safety audits of the country. While TSCRA supports open trade markets, we must
always make certain that the countries from which we are importing beef have proper animal health and food safety protocols in place. They must also have a proven history of being able to control foreign animal diseases, such as FMD. TSCRA believes these protocols should be substantiated by sound, scientifi c evidence. Simply put, I don’t believe Argentina can meet these
critical standards to keep FMD out of the U.S. TSCRA has submitted comments expressing concern
with the rule, and you can do the same by visiting
www.regulations.gov and typing into the search screen, APHIS-2014-0032-0001. The deadline for submitting comments is Dec. 29, 2014. We will closely watch this rule proposal and do ev-
erything possible to block implementation so U.S. ranch- ers can continue to produce safe and healthy beef.
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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