CALGARY, April 22 /CNW/ - The American Farm Bureau (AFB), one of the strongest voices in U.S. agriculture, has joined the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and other concerned groups in legal action to re-open the U.S. border to Canadian cattle. The AFB, NCBA, 18 state farm bureaus, 29 state cattle organizations, National Pork Producers Council and individual U.S. cattle producers filed an amicus curiae "friend of the court" brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) rule to re-open the border to live Canadian cattle and an expanded list of beef products.

"Having these influential voices in U.S. agriculture file this brief sends a powerful message to the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of the U.S. government that the U.S. has nothing to fear and much to gain from re-opening trade with Canada," says Stan Eby, President of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA). "The CCA met regularly with these groups to ensure they understood the facts and based their decisions on science, not fear-mongering."

The AFB stated in a news release, "The Agriculture Department fully investigated all aspects of Canada's science-based system to control and prevent bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) before it issued a rule that would have re-opened the U.S. border to Canadian cattle, and a District Court judge from Montana erred when he blocked USDA from implementing the rule..."

The news release goes on to state, "Instead of affording the agency (USDA) the deference it was due, the court rejected the agency's explanation for its decision, disregarded the scientific evidence and expert opinion on which that decision was based and repeatedly substituted its judgment for that of the agency. The District Court's order granting the preliminary injunction (to block the USDA rule) should be vacated."

CCA is the National Voice for the Beef Cattle Industry, representing

over 90,000 Cattle Producers