USCA Pleased with Increased Access to South Korea;
Concerned About Increased Regulation
Contact: Jess Peterson 202/870-3867 - usca@uscattlemen.org
"This agreement and resumed beef trade with South Korea has been long awaited in cattle country," stated USCA Animal Health Chairman Chuck Kiker.
The U.S. was denied complete market access to South Korea after a Canadian case of BSE was discovered in the U.S. in December of 2003. During peak access South Korea was the third-largest export market for U.S. beef and beef products.
"USCA appreciates the time and effort U.S. negotiators spent in reaching this agreement," noted Kiker," and we are pleased that U.S. beef industry will once again have the opportunity to market U.S. beef to a major beef importing country."
However, USCA is extremely concerned that this agreement is based on increasing regulations. Complete market access hinges upon expanding the domestic feed ban as presented in a revised rule proposed October 6, 2005. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published the revised rule, amending FDA's 1997 ruminant feed ban. The final rule was published in Friday's edition of the Federal Register and will go into effect April 27, 2009.
The revised rule could cost the beef processing and rendering industry millions of dollars. Kiker pointed out, "Any cost increases in other segments of the industry without an increase in demand usually result in producers getting less for their cattle."
"The U.S. does not have a BSE problem We have discovered one case of BSE of Canadian origin. We immediately began testing high risk cattle, and after testing approximately a million head, we discovered only two other cases of BSE that were atypical, not associated with the strain discovered in Canada or Europe. The combination of the current feed ban, proper mitigation measures, and high import standards we had in place prevented BSE from becoming prevalent in the U.S. cattle herd", continued Kiker.
"Enhancing the feed ban will increase costs and create a loss of dollars for U.S. cattle producers, feeders, renderers, packers, and eventually consumers. USCA wants to know if opening the market to sell beef from cattle over thirty months of age to Korea with the added stipulation of implementing the enhanced feed ban, is cost effective Before the Administration implements this enhanced feed ban, USCA would like to see a cost benefit analysis comparing the benefit of increased market access to the cost of this increased regulation. Food costs have increased for U. S. consumers as the price of energy has increased. Additional regulations will make beef more costly for consumers Until these numbers are known, U.S. cattle producers and Congress should be wary of a deal that could have long term negative impacts," concluded Kiker.
Established in March 2007, USCA is committed to concentrating its efforts in Washington, DC to enhance and expand the cattle industry's voice on Capitol Hill. USCA has a full-time presence in Washington, giving cattle producers across the country a strong influence on policy development.
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