Byron Dorgan and Mike Enzi: New rule is a threat to beef safety in U.S.

From hamburgers at lunch to steaks at dinner, many Americans consume some form of beef every week. Millions around the world do the same.

American livestock producers work hard to ensure that the beef they produce is the best and safest in the world, and it is. As a result, consumers worldwide buy American beef with confidence. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) could harm the work of American livestock producers with its recent approval of a rule that allows imported beef from Canada with higher risk for mad cow disease into our country.

That rule change threatens the American beef "brand" because of Canada's ongoing experience with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), otherwise known as mad cow disease. Twelve cases of BSE have been detected in Canadian-born cattle, eight since the beginning of last year, the latest of which was announced on Dec. 18. Resuming unrestricted imports for this higher-risk beef means that when consumers -- in America or around the globe -- buy our beef, they won't know for certain that they are getting the product that U.S. producers worked so hard to keep safe.

Clearly, that will cause some consumers to look elsewhere, with considerable harm to the U.S. beef industry.

The USDA previously allowed cattle younger than 30 months of age to be imported from Canada. This age restriction was important, because younger animals are less likely to be at risk for BSE infection. The new rule, adopted Nov. 19, allows all animals born after March 1, 1999, to enter the United States, and it also allows beef from animals that were slaughtered in Canada to be imported into the United States without an age restriction.

In recent months, American consumers have come face to face with the reality that food products from other nations can be tainted and diseased. Our food-safety procedures need more scrutiny, not less.

American ranchers have worked hard to earn the confidence that consumers in America and around the globe rightfully have in the quality and safety of American beef. Government policies should do nothing to diminish that.

Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Mike Enzi, R-Wy., have introduced a resolution in the Senate that would halt implementation of the USDA rule.