Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns: January 6, 2005

Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns

January 6, 2005

The CCC is a weekly report from Washington D.C. giving an up-to-date summary of top policy initiatives concerning the cattle industry; direct from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).

Agriculture Secretary Nomination Hearing: Nebraska Governor Michael Owen Johanns has been unanimously recommended to the Senate for confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. The Senate Agriculture Committee held the nomination hearing today, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2005. Prior to adjourning this afternoon, the Senate committee members in attendance voted 11-0 in approval of Gov. Johanns’s nomination, with a vote being held open in order to allow other committee members to vote before close of business. With these unanimous numbers, NCBA believes a strong Senate confirmation of the Johanns nomination is to be expected.

Lawmakers Rally for Japanese Border Reopening: During today’s nomination hearing for the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, members of the Senate Agriculture Committee urged nominee Gov. Mike Johanns and the American public about the importance of the Japanese export market to the U.S. beef industry. NCBA is commending the 11 members of the U.S. Senate who spoke in support of aggressive action by President Bush and his Administration to swiftly re-open Japanese and other markets for U.S. beef during today’s hearing. This has been our top priority since the borders closed after December 23, 2003. Senators showing support of the re-opening export markets for U.S. beef included Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Senators Max Baucus (D-MT), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Charles Grassley (R-IA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Jim Talent (R-MO), and Craig Thomas (R-WY). Cattle producers appreciate that Senators are rallying together in support of regaining U.S. beef exports as soon as possible. 

New Senate Agriculture Committee Chair: U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, (R-GA) will serve as the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Senator Chambliss has decades of experience working with agriculture policy issues and hails from the fourth largest cattle producing county in the state of Georgia. He served 8 years on the House Committee on Agriculture.  Before being elected to Congress in 1995, Sen. Chambliss was a lawyer in the small Southern town of Moultrie, Georgia, where he represented many cattle producers. NCBA believes this diverse experience in agriculture has given Sen. Chambliss as solid understanding of our industry, and we look forward to continuing our work together with the Senator, in his new role as Chairman.

BSE Case Found in Canada: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed late Jan. 2, 2005 that an 8-year old dairy cow from Alberta tested positive for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). No part of the animal entered the human food or animal feed systems.  This animal was identified as part of Canada’s BSE surveillance program. For more information, go www.bseinfo.org or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s site devoted to BSE case detail, found at www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/heasan/disemala/bseesb/bseesbindexe.shtml.  

Canadian Trade: USDA announced Dec. 29, 2004 the final rule to establish Canada as a "minimal risk region" for BSE which will resume imports of certain cattle and beef products from Canada to the U.S.  USDA has indicated the subsequent finding of BSE in an Alberta dairy cow announced January 2, 2005 should not have any bearing on the implementation of that rule scheduled for March 7, 2005.  NCBA is reviewing the 500-page rule and after extensive input from state affiliates and producer-members, members of NCBA’s Executive Committee have decided to send a delegation of U.S. cattle producers to Canada in the coming weeks and will consider additional actions.  

Japan Update:  Since October 23, 2004 an understanding has been established between the U.S. and Japan regarding the re-establishing of trade between the two nations. There are two parts to this process; one can move forward once Japan has made their own regulatory changes in response to their own cases of BSE, and the other is based upon completion of the U.S. enhanced BSE surveillance program. There are four areas being worked on concurrently that are part of these two steps: (1) Access to Japan for products from age verified cattle, (2) Progress on the requirements of a USDA certified Beef Export Verification (BEV) program, (3) Completion of a maturity study by USDA-AMS to help both parties determine the appropriate maturity grade to be used as an age verification tool, (4) Completion of the U.S. enhanced BSE Surveillance program, which aims to test over 268,000 high risk cattle to determine the prevalence of the disease in the U.S. cattle herd. As of December 20, 2004, USDA has tested 152,984 animals with no positives.

Delays continue in Japan’s process of revising their domestic BSE regulations. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has publicly outlined a process for this revision that includes the following post October 15, 2004 steps. (1) Additional Food Safety Commission (FSC) deliberation (including the expert committee) – 3-4 weeks; (2) Receiving public comments – 5 weeks; (3) Deliberation and making a report to Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) and MAFF – 1 week; (4) MHLW and MAFF request and receipt of additional public comments – 4 weeks; (5) Revision of ministerial ordinances and regulations; (6) Enforcement of revised measures against BSE. During the week of December 20th, NCBA Chief Executive Officer Terry Stokes, along with other key leaders from beef industry organizations, traveled to Tokyo to meet with several Japanese officials and industry representatives to further the progress of these trade discussions.

National Forest System (NFS) Planning Rule:  USDA announced Dec. 22, 2004 the completion of its 2004 National Forest System Planning rule.  This rule will employ an Environmental Management System (EMS) for the first time in the Forest Service’s history to improve efficiency and accountability throughout the planning process.  NCBA and the Public Lands Council support the proposed changes to the rules because they simplify administrative processes, require fewer NEPA documents in connection with Forest Service activities, and reduce frivolous appeals of agency actions.  The complete text of the final rule can be viewed at www.fs.fed.us/emc/nfma.

Wolf Management Update:  The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced Jan. 3, 2005 its newest regulation allowing maximum management of Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf populations in Montana and Idaho.  This final rule grants management authority to States and Tribes that have existing wolf management plans approved by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.  According to this latest regulation, public lands grazing permitees and private land owners, among others throughout Montana and Idaho are given authority to control wolves attacking livestock or herding animals without obtaining written approval in advance. Since their initial reintroduction into the region in 1995, gray wolf population recovery has been overwhelmingly successful, and has become a growing concern for public and private lands ranchers. 

Forest Service Centennial Celebration: The U.S. Forest Service is celebrating its Centennial this year.  In 1905, the agency was created with a unique mission: to sustain healthy, diverse, and productive forests and grasslands for present and future generations. The creation of the Forest Service initiated a century of change in managing public forests and grasslands, with introduction of a new conservation ethic and professional workforce to carry it forth. As the agency begins its centennial celebration, NCBA and PLC staff are participating in a number of kick-off events hosted by the agency this week.

Congress returns to Washington:  The 109^th session of Congress was called to order at noon on Tuesday, January 4, 2005. Various House and Senate hearings, chairmanship nominations, and other back-to-school events are abuzz this week.

USDA Surveillance for BSE: In related news, USDA continues its enhanced BSE surveillance program which began June 1.  To date, 167,476 tests have been conducted with no positive cases reported. 

Media Contact:

Tanya Augustson or Karen Batra at 202-347-0228; taugustson@beef.org or kbatra@beef.org

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