The US Department of Agriculture is now allowing beef to be imported from parts of Brazil. Several South Dakota livestock groups are not happy with the decision.
Several Brazilian states have been deemed free of cattle Foot and Mouth Disease and now meet US export standards. The Food Safety and Inspection Service will allow fresh and frozen beef to come into the country. However many producers are against the change. Bill Kluck is the President of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association. He says it’s hard to overlook Brazil’s history when looking at their meat quality.
“You know Brazil has had one of the most, one of the countries that have had the most meat rejected at our borders because of contamination. And it just proves a point that their safety and health issues are not as closely monitored as they are in the United States,” says Kluck.
Kluck isn’t the only one who has raised concerns. Todd Wilkinson is the President of South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association. He says potentially allowing Food and Mouth disease back into the US would have devastating effects on the livestock community.
“AFSIS and the USDA are simply ignoring the risk and now they’re going to expose our herds to this problem. Just for everybody’s benefit, if this gets back into the beef herd this would be a billion, multi-billion dollar impact on the beef industry in the United States, not with an “m”, with a “b”, says Wilkinson.
Both Kluck and Wilkinson say their organizations lobbied against the decision. Wilkinson says the only way to change it now is through congressional action.