Organization for Competitive Markets
P.O. Box 6486
Lincoln, NE 68506
Date: April 20, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Steve Cady, 402-792-0041
OCM
Says USDA’s Lifting of Beef Import Restrictions Unlawful and Preferential
Lincoln, NE ~ Fred Stokes,
president of the Organization for Competitive Markets, said today that U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recent action to lift import restrictions on
Canadian beef derived from animals over 30 months of age appears to be unlawful
and lacking a sound scientific basis.
Further, it appears that USDA released this information preferentially
to importers, traders and the Canadian government without telling the U.S.
public.
OCM has reconstructed the
following timeline of events:
·
On
Wednesday, April 14, the Canadian media quoted Canadian officials who said that
USDA would lift its restrictions effective Monday, April 19.
·
On
Thursday, April 15, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection (APHIS) website
included a link to a undated memorandum issued to Importers and Import Brokers
stating that the import restrictions would be lifted effective Monday, April
19. However, USDA made no public
announcements regarding that rule change.
·
Between
Wednesday, April 14 and Friday, April 16 live cattle futures markets lost
$4.00. April futures closed on Wednesday at $85.10. On Thursday, trading volume
nearly doubled as fed cattle futures were limit down at a low of $82.10,
closing at $82.68. Friday’s low was
$81.05 with a close at $81.58.
·
On Friday,
April 16, USDA spokesperson Alisa Harrison denied the reports saying, "I
have no knowledge of anything being announced. We’re not at that stage with the
Canadian rule."
·
On Monday,
April 20, USDA Secretary Ann Veneman told CongressDaily that the decision to
expand such imports was made on Friday, April 16 by a USDA technical team
"charged with harmonizing meat regulations in the U.S. and Canada”.
"U.S. producers had no
advance notification that this action was to be taken," said Stokes.
"Under the Administrative Procedures Act, federal agencies are required to
provide public notification and an opportunity for public comment about
impending regulatory changes. In lifting the import restrictions imposed on
Canadian beef derived from animals over 30 months of age, we believe the USDA arbitrarily
implemented a new regulation secretly and without public knowledge."
"It also appears that
market sensitive information may have been leaked to a favored few importers
and traders that could have taken advantage of that information in the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange fed cattle trading pit. It is also clear that USDA is
having trouble getting its story straight on when the decision was made to lift
the import restrictions. Obviously, the Canadian press was informed long before
the U.S. citizenry. We believe that USDA should be called before a
congressional committee to explain how events unfolded and why this action was
taken in such an underhanded way," said Stokes.
The Organization for Competitive Markets
(OCM) is a multidisciplinary, nonprofit group of farmers, ranchers, academics,
attorneys and policy makers dedicated to reclaiming the agricultural
marketplace for independent farmers, ranchers and rural communities. OCM helps lead the Cattlemen’s Competitive
Market Project which is a voluntary contribution program focusing on
competition in the cattle markets.