Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns: September 19, 2003

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) D.C. headquarters. Please feel free to reprint in full.

Hurricane Isabel:
The big news in Washington, D.C. this week was the wrath of Hurricane Isabel, which has paralyzed the city over the past two days. The federal government, D.C. government, schools and public buildings in the area were closed down Thursday and Friday as the city braced for the storm. Due to the storm, this short edition of the CCC comes to you a date late.

Country of Origin Labeling:
In the House, Congressman Collin Peterson (D-Minn) has introduced a bill aimed at trimming record-keeping costs for the beef and pork industry in order to comply with the mandatory country-of-origin labeling law. NCBA maintains that although the Peterson bill could lessen the paperwork burden on producers, the costs of the mandatory program remain and will be borne by producers in the form of cheaper prices paid for cattle. A recent GAO report concluded that implementation of a mandatory country-of-origin labeling program would be burdensome on producers. There are a number of points on which our members differ with Mr. Peterson, and we will continue to focus on the policy that NCBA board of directors adopted in Dallas. NCBA will meet with Rep. Peterson next week.

Food Safety:
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has announced that the number of E. coli O157:H7 positive samples in ground beef collected to date in 2003 have declined compared with past years. Of the samples collected and analyzed through Aug. 31, 2003, 0.32 percent tested positive for E. coli O157:H7, down from 0.78 in 2002 and 0.84 in 2001. According to FSIS Administrator Dr. Garry L. McKee, this sampling data suggests that initiatives begun in the past year are beginning to pay dividends.

WTO Talks:
As we reported last week, NCBA Chief Economist Gregg Doud attended the WTO talks in Cancun, Mexico. Despite the best preparations and a valiant effort by the U.S. team of negotiators, the Cancun WTO Ministerial meetings ended last week without an agreement on any issue among the organization’s 148 members. Doud met with top international trade officials on negotiations affecting the U.S. cattle industry. The talks then fell apart on Sunday, with a group of developing countries continuing to demand cuts in agricultural domestic supports in developed countries such as the U.S., EU and Japan, but unwilling to negotiate other issues such as increasing market access for agricultural products into their own countries. NCBA will continue to work with this Administration in aggressively pursuing bilateral trade agreements that increase market access for U.S. cattle producers.

Central American Trade:
Hundreds of trade officials from the U.S. and Central America met in Managua, Nicaragua this week for the seventh round of Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) talks. On January 8, 2003, the U.S. launched free trade negotiations with the Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Negotiations began in San Jose, Costa Rica on January 27, 2003. All parties are committed to the negotiations and believe that the scheduled conclusion of the negotiations by the end of December 2003 is realistic. NCBA continues to follow these talks, working with Central American Cattlemen’s associations and government officials.

Public Lands Issues:
The Public Lands Council held its annual meeting this week in Medora, North Dakota. Key issues discussed include: grazing permit renewal, wildfire initiatives, Sage Grouse status, and how Farm Bill conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can be used on public lands ranches. Outcomes of the PLC meeting will be covered in next week’s edition of the CCC.

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