09.22.05

Senate Passes Cantwell’s Measure to Track Cattle from Canada

Provides $100,000 for Cattle Tracking System in Washington State; Helps Imported Cattle Meet Standards Set Forth by USDA.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, the Senate approved U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell’s request to provide Washington state with $100,000 to develop and implement a system to track cattle imported from Canada more effectively. Passed as part of the Senate Agriculture appropriations bill, Cantwell’s measure will help individually track and account for Canadian cattle transported to feed lots in the United States.

"Now that we’ve reopened the border to Canadian Cattle, we need to make sure that we know where our food comes from," Cantwell said. "This system is an important step toward restoring full confidence in American beef."

In July, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the reopening of the border to cattle imports from Canada. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) closed the border in May 2003 after Canadian officials discovered that an Alberta calf was infected with Mad Cow. At the time, Cantwell expressed concern that amid questions surrounding feed ban compliance in Canada, re-opening the border would undermine consumer confidence in the U.S. and impede ongoing efforts to regain critically important foreign markets like Japan that currently ban American beef.

"I strongly believe that all consumers deserve reassurance that Canadian beef is safe," Cantwell said. "We need to ensure the safety of our nation's consumers and our country’s beef industry."

Mad Cow is an issue of acute importance to Washington state. Since the December 2003 discovery of an infected cow in Mabton, Washington, the state’s beef industry has continued to suffer considerable economic losses. Most of Washington’s major trading partners responded to the discovery by closing their markets to U.S. beef exports, even though DNA analyses showed that the infected cow was of Canadian origin.

Now that the boarder is reopened, Cantwell’s measure will help implement common sense measures to keep track of Canadian Cattle imports. Cantwell’s Canadian Cattle Tracking Initiative will provide funding for the state officials, USDA, and groups from the cattle industry to develop an enhanced tracking system using the use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags already applied to imported Canadian cattle. The tags would be readied in Canada and the Washington State Department of Agriculture would review each tag before issuing an import permit. The tags would be reviewed again each time cattle are moved. The program would also be used to ensure that animals are slaughtered prior to the 30-month limit. Mad Cow is more prevalent in cattle over the age of 30 months. The Washington State Veterinarian, the Washington Cattlemen’s Association, the Washington State Dairy Federation, and the Washington Cattle Feeders Association all support the initiative.

Cantwell pledged to continue fighting to preserve cattle tracking funds when the Senate and House bills are merged in a conference committee during the coming weeks.