SOUND INTERNATIONAL TRADE VITAL TO U.S. BEEF INDUSTRY

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 22, 1998) – The U.S. government needs to have both the guts and the will to negotiate and enforce trade deals that will benefit U.S. cattle producers, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) said today.

"We need enforceable global trading rules that grant market access, settle disputes on the basis of science and reduce tariffs," said Chandler Keys, NCBA vice president for public policy, at a House Agriculture Committee hearing held on international trade issues and the upcoming 1999 World Trade Organization negotiations.

"The United States must hold its trading partners to commitments agreed to in previous trade agreements, or risk losing public support," he said.

Acting quickly and aggressively to respond to trade opportunities is vital to the beef industry. In 1997, beef exports accounted for approximately eight percent of total U.S. beef production and 12 percent of wholesale value.

"Congress needs to provide the tools to take advantage of these opportunities, or the United States will be left behind in the global trade market," Keys said. The European Union has entered into negotiations with Mexico as well as MERCOSUR, the Latin American trading block. Canada is also negotiating trade agreements with Latin American countries.

Keys urged approval of traditional trading authority for the administration, renewal of normal trade status for China and full funding for the International Monetary Fund so it can continue to make loans to countries that import U.S. beef. The removal of trade sanctions would allow the U.S. beef industry to explore market development in countries that are currently shut out of trade, he added. Keys also focused on the need for an import labeling law, similar to the measure currently moving through Congress.

"Labeling will give consumers the ability to make informed decisions. The relative value of meat from different countries would be determined through competitive forces in the marketplace," he said.

During 1996, beef imports were equal to about eight percent of total U.S. beef production. This beef is generally blended into ground beef or processed beef products or sold at the retail meat case without informing the customer that it is not produced in the United States. In addition to beef imports, more than 1.2 million cattle were imported from Canada directly to U.S. packing plants during 1996.

"Although all of the value-added production took place in Canada, these cattle were processed -- in effect they were 'laundered' -- and sold as U.S. beef," Keys said.

– 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.