Cattle Rack Rancher
Well-known member
Montana Judge sets trial date
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration will face off in federal court on July 27 with an American rancher group suing to keep the U.S. border closed to imports of live Canadian cattle because of mad cow disease concerns.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Cebull in Billings, Montana, on Thursday set the court date to hear arguments that pit the U.S. Department of Agriculture against R-CALF USA, an activist rancher group.
R-CALF, which has been successful in two previous attempts with Cebull in restraining beef and cattle trade, is suing to stop USDA from allowing imports of young Canadian cattle. R-CALF has cited two more cases of mad cow disease discovered in Canada at the beginning of 2005.
Two weeks ago, Cebull granted R-CALF's request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily suspend a USDA plan that would have allowed Canada to export young live cattle to the United States for the first time since 2003, when mad cow disease was discovered in Alberta.
At the July hearing in Billings, the judge will hear arguments on whether to make the injunction permanent.
The U.S. government still has not decided whether to appeal the preliminary injunction. However, the National Meat Association, a group representing meatpackers, earlier this month filed an emergency appeal of the Montana decision with a federal appeals court in San Francisco.
U.S. meatpackers want quick access to the Canadian cattle, which they say are needed to keep slaughter plants operating efficiently.
USDA officials have said little about the government's legal strategy.
"They (Justice Department officials) have 60 days and I can't imagine that they would need that full period of time" to decide whether to appeal, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns told reporters.
R-CALF also wants Cebull to stop U.S. imports of boxed beef from Canada.
The USDA planned to open the U.S. border on March 7 to Canadian cattle younger than 30 months old, saying those animals presented little or no risk for carrying mad cow disease. Scientists believe the brain-wasting disease needs several years to incubate within an animal's brain and nervous system.
On March 3, the U.S. Senate voted 52-46 to maintain a trade ban on Canadian cattle.
© Reuters Limited. All Rights Reserved.
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration will face off in federal court on July 27 with an American rancher group suing to keep the U.S. border closed to imports of live Canadian cattle because of mad cow disease concerns.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Cebull in Billings, Montana, on Thursday set the court date to hear arguments that pit the U.S. Department of Agriculture against R-CALF USA, an activist rancher group.
R-CALF, which has been successful in two previous attempts with Cebull in restraining beef and cattle trade, is suing to stop USDA from allowing imports of young Canadian cattle. R-CALF has cited two more cases of mad cow disease discovered in Canada at the beginning of 2005.
Two weeks ago, Cebull granted R-CALF's request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily suspend a USDA plan that would have allowed Canada to export young live cattle to the United States for the first time since 2003, when mad cow disease was discovered in Alberta.
At the July hearing in Billings, the judge will hear arguments on whether to make the injunction permanent.
The U.S. government still has not decided whether to appeal the preliminary injunction. However, the National Meat Association, a group representing meatpackers, earlier this month filed an emergency appeal of the Montana decision with a federal appeals court in San Francisco.
U.S. meatpackers want quick access to the Canadian cattle, which they say are needed to keep slaughter plants operating efficiently.
USDA officials have said little about the government's legal strategy.
"They (Justice Department officials) have 60 days and I can't imagine that they would need that full period of time" to decide whether to appeal, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns told reporters.
R-CALF also wants Cebull to stop U.S. imports of boxed beef from Canada.
The USDA planned to open the U.S. border on March 7 to Canadian cattle younger than 30 months old, saying those animals presented little or no risk for carrying mad cow disease. Scientists believe the brain-wasting disease needs several years to incubate within an animal's brain and nervous system.
On March 3, the U.S. Senate voted 52-46 to maintain a trade ban on Canadian cattle.
© Reuters Limited. All Rights Reserved.
