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The celebrations are starting on both sides of the U.S/Canadian
border as a Federal appeals court panel last night unanimously
overturned Judge Richard Cebull's injunction against the
import of live Canadian cattle.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said that it would issue
a more complete ruling in the near future that would set
out its reasoning and a timetable for reopening the border.
In a prepared statement released late Thursday, Agriculture
Secretary Mike Johanns hailed the decision and said the
process or resuming trade would begin immediately.
"USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is already
in contact with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to prepare
to certify cattle for shipment," he said. "We have been
safely importing boneless boxed beef from Canada since September
2003, and now we will use the scientific approach laid-out
in our minimal risk rule to once again safely import live
Canadian cattle for processing.
"This is great news for the future of the U.S. beef industry,
specifically the many ranchers, feeders, and processing
plants that have been struggling to make ends meet due to
the closed border," he continued. "It also bolsters our
position with other international trading partners by following
the very advice we have given them to base trade decisions
on sound science."
J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute,
said that he, too, expects shipments to resume very quickly,
as much of the preliminary work has already been done. Consumers,
he said, have seen prices for ground beef rise from $1.85
a pound to $2.55 in the two years since the border was closed
in May 2003, and some 8,000 American jobs, primarily in
slaughter facilities, have been lost, many permanently.
While the three-judge panel did not explain its ruling,
it was evident from comments by two of them on Wednesday
that it felt that Cebull had overreached, and had not given
appropriate deference to the Secretary of Agriculture and
USDA scientists. Judge Wallace Tashima, for instance, said
"the law does invest the Secretary of Agriculture with a
certain amount of discretion."
Dissident rancher groups led by Ranchers-Cattlemen Action
Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America, are now left
with two alternatives: accept the ruling or appeal it to
the U.S. Supreme Court. A related trial currently set for
July 27 in Billings, Mont. will now likely be cancelled,
unless the appeals court chooses to allow it to proceed.
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