1998 News Archive
AUSTRALIAN FEEDER CATTLE TRANS-SHIPMENT THROUGH MEXICO
"It has been reported by numerous sources that Australia has exported feeder cattle to Mexico with the intent to move them into the United States. NCBA supports fair trade, but such trade must protect the health of the U.S. cattle herd. Any move by Australia to circumvent international trade rules would compound the extreme financial duress that the U.S. cattlemen are facing and undercut the future of international trade agreements that will benefit U.S. producers. I will be taking a previously scheduled trip to Australia tomorrow to discuss a number of trade issues and will assess the trans-shipment situation. Last week NCBA met with USDA officials to review the developments.
"According to the USDA, no import permit has been issued and the agency has not received the necessary paperwork to issue one. If a permit is requested, it will be judged based on the same scientific criteria that any permit must meet. To protect the U.S. cattle herd from foreign animal diseases, cattle imported from Australia must spend a 30-day period in a covered, vector-free quarantine facility and meet strict pre-export quarantine requirements, including a 60-day holding period. Cattle also are subject to disease testing and other import requirements at the U.S.-Mexico border. Australian cattle trans-shipped through Mexico will be required to meet U.S. requirements for shipment from both Australia and Mexico.
"NCBA has asked USDA to review quarantine requirements in Mexico, as well as tariff issues to analyze whether the Australian cattle shipment meets international trade rules. It seems that there would be little economic incentive for Australian exporters to pay costs for freight, shrink, health testing, tariffs, quarantine, transportation and border crossing on these cattle, so the shipment raises many unanswered questions. USDA has agreed to review the economics of the situation so the possibility of any hidden subsidies can be determined. Australian feeder cattle must not be allowed to circumvent U.S. quarantine requirements by trans-shipment through Mexico.
"NCBA also urges the U.S. government to gain full, unfettered access to the Australian beef market for U.S. beef. Approximately one-fourth of all beef imported into the U.S. market comes from Australia. But U.S. beef, when marketed in Australia, is met with consumer boycotts that often seem to be aided and abetted by the Australian beef industry."
-- NCBA --
Initiated in 1898, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is the marketing organization and trade association for America’s one million cattle farmers and ranchers. With offices in Denver, Chicago and Washington D.C., NCBA is a consumer-focused, producer-directed organization representing the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.