Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns: March 4, 2004

Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns

March 4, 2004

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 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).

Mexican Borders to Open: Producer-members of NCBA are pleased to learn that U.S. and Mexican officials have come to agreement upon the re-opening of the Mexican market for a significant portion of U.S. beef exports.  The USDA announced late yesterday afternoon that Secretary Javier Usabiaga of Mexico reopened the border. With the market closed since the December 23rd discovery of one isolated case of BSE, we have been working together to re-open valuable markets like Mexico. NCBA applauds the USDA for this accomplishment, and appreciates all the work that has been done by U.S. and Mexican officials. Mexico is the second largest export market for U.S. beef and beef products. Boneless beef covered in the agreement makes up a significant portion of all exports to Mexico. NCBA will continue to work with industry and government officials to assure that the full spectrum of this valuable export market is reopened as soon as possible.

Morocco = New Export Opportunities: U.S. cattle producers across the country are looking to benefit from a free trade agreement (FTA) with Morocco. Late Wednesday afternoon, the Bush Administration announced it has completed negotiations on this agreement.  For more than a year now, NCBA has continually reiterated the cattle industry’s position on these trade negotiations, through comments, testimony, and meetings with trade officials.

This new agreement gives us new opportunities to promote U.S. beef in Morocco. It opens doors for increased quantities of our high-quality beef to be exported to their extensive hotel and restaurant industry, where there is an increasing demand for beef products. Our popular, coveted U.S. beef could do well in Morocco.

Presently, products entering Morocco face some of the highest beef tariffs in the world. This agreement will finally liberalize tariffs and other duties on trade, and improve market access for cattle producers. American fast-food outlets have been among the most successful businesses in Morocco in recent years. There is now a higher demand for "western type" food. Beef is listed among the U.S. agricultural products having the best high value product prospects for increasing exports to Morocco.  Morocco presents an opportunity to expand access to a country that is also aligned with the European Union through a bilateral agreement, so a U.S. – Morocco FTA offers strategic future opportunities. NCBA continues to participate in the process of evaluating critical trade issues within the cattle industry. 

Animal ID Hearings: NCBA Vice President and Missouri cattle producer Mike John testified on the subject of Animal Identification today before the Senate Agriculture Committee’s subcommittee on Marketing, Inspection, and Product Promotion.  NCBA President and Kansas cattle producer Jan Lyons is testifying in Houston, Texas tomorrow before the House Agriculture Committee. In their testimony, NCBA leadership are voicing support of the proposed United States Animal Identification Plan (USAIP) as the framework for establishing an effective livestock tracking system.  NCBA believes flexibility will be a key component in an effective national animal identification system, and on-going discussion and input from all parties within animal agriculture will be essential. Animal ID is a confusing and complicated topic which has endured several years of debate to come to a consensus, with much work still ahead. The USAIP represents two years of efforts to develop the framework for a national animal identification system that would aid in the identification and tracking of livestock for animal health and related purposes. Over 400 animal and livestock industry professionals, representing more than 70 associations, organizations and government agencies, have worked to develop the plan with the goal of tracking an animal or group of animals (back and forward) within 48 hours of an animal health incident.  

Canada – Your Input Needed! This afternoon, USDA announced it will be reopening the comment period on the proposed rule which would establish regions that present minimal risk of introducing BSE.  With the reopening of this comment period, we believe USDA is requesting comments on the rule that was previously published, as well as whether to allow the importation from BSE minimal risk regions of beef from cattle 30 months of age or older in which the specified risk materials has been removed.  In addition USDA posted an Explanatory Note to the website which expands the original risk analysis conducted for the original proposed rule.  (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/bse_explannote.pdf) 

Once the Proposed Rule has been made public, NCBA will review it and provide an analysis.  USDA reports that the proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register on March 8th.  Comments would then be due by April 7th.

Australia - Your Input Needed! This Wednesday, March 3rd, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative released the text of the U.S. – Australia FTA to the public.  It can be found on USTR’s website at www.ustr.gov under the FTA negotiations section/Australia.  Advisory Committees are required to submit reports to the President, Congress, and USTR within 30 days after the President has notified Congress of his intent to sign the agreement.  President Bush sent the letter of notification to Congress on February 13, 2004.  Hence, the advisory committee reports are due no later than Friday, March 12, 2004. 

Our industry and organization has representation on all the advisory committees which are applicable for cattle and beef.  As such, these representatives need your input on the text of this agreement to help them write their reports.  Please send comments as soon as possible to Michelle Reinke via email:  mreinke@beef.org. The deadline is Sunday, March 7th.  We apologize for the quick turn-around time needed on this, but your input is essential in crafting these reports. For a summary of the agreement, please contact Michelle via email or at 202-347-0288.

CSP comments: NCBA sent in comments this week on the proposed Conservation Security Program (CSP) rules. This proposed rule described how NRCS will implement the CSP to provide financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers who conserve and improve the quality of soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal life, and support other conservation activities. The CSP is a voluntary conservation program to support ongoing conservation stewardship of agricultural lands by providing payments to producers who maintain and enhance the condition of natural resources. CSP will identify and reward those farmers and ranchers who are meeting the highest standards of conservation and environmental management on their operations.

Brucellosis in Missouri: This Monday, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service amended its brucellosis regulations concerning the interstate movement of cattle by changing Missouri's brucellosis classification from Class A to Class Free.  This status is based on finding no brucellosis in cattle for the 12 months preceding classification as Class Free.  The United States is almost entirely free of brucellosis in cattle.  Only two states are affected with, Texas and Wyoming.  Both states are designated as Class A. Comments may be submitted on or before May 3, by postal mail, commercial delivery or e-mail.  Send an original and three copies of postal mail or commercial delivery comments to Docket No. 01-015-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, Md. 20737-1238.  Email comments to regulations@aphis.usda.gov, without attachments.

Healthy Forests: This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Interior Department issued field guidelines designed to help land-managers reduce wildfire threats on public lands.  The guidance will be used to address issues that managers will need to consider while reducing hazardous fuels and planning forest and rangeland restoration projects, according to USDA. Interior Secretary Gale Norton noted that "severe drought and overgrown areas have contributed to unhealthy forests, rangelands and some of the worst wildfire seasons we have ever had." According to Secretary Norton, "the field guide explains all the tools available to process urgently needed treatment projects that will help avoid catastrophic wildfires and save lives and property, while complying with environmental laws."

USDA eGovernment: This week, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced the availability of an electronic Customer Statement. Veneman said the Customer Statement allows USDA customers to view: (1) Participation and application status in various conservation programs, (2) Payments associated with commodity and conservation programs,(3) Information on farm loans, and (4) Conservation plan and land unit information. The USDA created this as a focal point for providing producers access to their USDA information and facilitating online business with USDA.  To view a Customer Statement, users can visit www.usda.gov.

Environmental Stewardship Award Program:  NCBA is now accepting applications for the 14th annual Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP).  The deadline for applications is March 12, 2004. Sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, and USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the Environmental Stewardship Program recognizes cattle producers who use innovative practices to protect and enhance natural resources while maintaining or increasing the profitability of their businesses.  Any group or organization is eligible to nominate one individual/business, however the nominee must raise or feed cattle.  Individuals cannot nominate themselves.  Nominees need not be NCBA members, but they must support NCBA’s mission: A dynamic and profitable beef industry, which concentrates resources around a unified plan, consistently meets global consumer needs and increases demand.

National Ag Day/Ag Week: Spring is coming soon! March 20 marks the first day of spring and National Ag Day, when producers, agricultural associations, corporations, universities, government agencies and others across America gather to recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by agriculture.  NCBA is a proud sponsor of Ag Day 2004 and encourages members to get involved locally by planning events and promoting American agriculture within their communities. National Agriculture Week is March 14-20, 2004.  For more information visit www.agday.org

NCBA Spring Conference! NCBA continues to prepare for the 2004 Spring Conference in Washington, March 29-April 3. Hundreds of cattlemen from across the country will be in the national’s capital for this important event. Attendees will hear directly from top policymakers, meet face-to-face with key Congressional offices, government agency influencers and have the opportunity to articulate policy priorities for today’s cattle industry. For more information, go to http://hill.beef.org/spring. 

Media Contact:

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

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For more information, please visit our web site at hill.beef.org.

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