June 19, 2008: 2008 FARM BILL

Yesterday, President Bush vetoed H.R. 6124, the "Food, Conservation, and Energy Act or 2008." H.R. 6124 was the complete version of the Farm Bill that included all titles, including trade, which was sent to the White House this week after the President returned from Europe. Following the veto, Congress quickly voted to override, with the House voting 317 to 109 http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll417.xml and the Senate voting 80 to 14. H.R. 6124 now becomes law, and the 2007/2008 Farm Bill process is completed. MAP and FMD are authorized at $200 million and $34.5 million annually respectively over the next five years (FY 08-12). THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS OVER THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF!

FY 09 AG APPROPRIATIONS

The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee has scheduled a markup tomorrow on the FY 09 Agriculture Appropriations bill. Please continue contacting members of the subcommittee in support of full funding of $200 million for MAP and $34.5 million for FMD. It is important to remind subcommittee members of the value of these programs to your respective industries.

March 27, 2008: Protocols established for US and Canadian breeding cattle to enter Mexico.

Officials from the United States, Canada and Mexico concluded a series of meetings today that provided all three countries an opportunity to discuss issues of mutual concern affecting agriculture, food and trade.

Today, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer and Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Gerry Ritz held the first meeting between the countries since full implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Jan. 1, 2008. And, the United States, Canada and Mexico announced protocols, effective tomorrow, to harmonize standards for the export of U.S. and Canadian breeding cattle to Mexico consistent with international standards.

"Canada, Mexico and the United States have been engaged in candid, productive talks over the past two days," said Schafer. "As each other's most important trading partners, we discussed trade in a variety of agricultural products. We mutually agreed on the importance of normalizing beef and cattle trade in North America consistent with the guidelines established by the World Organization for Animal Health. Our respective industries have benefited when our countries have worked together, and we are confident that we can build on our history of trust and collaboration to continue to resolve issues and to help set the standard for progressive trade policy and science-based practices with other countries."

Tomorrow, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); Mexico's Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGARPA); and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will make effective protocols for the trade of breeding cattle born after Jan. 1, 1999, consistent with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) standards. The new protocols outline conditions for the export of U.S. and Canadian cattle to Mexico. Canadian exporters will need to obtain import permits from APHIS and SAGARPA, as well as a health certificate from CFIA. Shipments will be inspected by U.S. and Mexican officials.

The harmonization of the standards in North America reaffirms the U.S. position that cattle can be traded safely when countries follow the OIE standards for effectively managing the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and further ensures that trade protocols for Canada, Mexico and the United States are consistent between the countries and with OIE. The protocols further a 2005 agreement to more effectively address the BSE risk in North America.

In May 2007, the OIE formally classified the United States as a controlled risk country for BSE. This status confirmed that U.S. BSE regulatory controls are effective and that U.S. beef and beef products of all ages can be safely traded.

OIE recommendations, which are based on the latest science, provide guidelines for trade in cattle of any age, as well as beef and many other cattle products. These guidelines apply to all OIE risk country classifications for BSE with recommended mitigation measures appropriately applied to protect both human and animal health.

For additional information or a printable version of this announcement, please visit http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/03/0087.xml

February 4, 2008: Inspection or re-inspection for approval to export embryos to China.

DEADLINE: February 15, 2008. Interested centers must contact AETA Headquarters Office (aeta@assochq.org) by February 15, 2008 to be eligible for inspection by China's AQSIQ and USDA, APHIS.

Please be advised that:

+ April, 2008 is the likely date for inspections. The final date of your inspection will not be available until the itinerary is developed.

+ Newly proposed facilities must be inspected to become eligible for approval and registration with the Chinese AQSIQ.

+ Facilities that were previously inspected but not approved are eligible for re-inspection.

+ Currently approved facilities will be selected for inspection on a random basis.

+ There will be an inspection fee to cover the travel costs of the Chinese inspection team. Mike Phillips, of USLGE, will prorate the costs between all centers (ET, AI and swine AI) that sign-up for inspection. Our best estimate is that the costs will range from $300 - $750 per center depending on the final number of centers that will be eligible for inspection.

+ At this time, the FAS funds have not been approved in the Congressional Farm Bill. If, at a later date, there are FAS funds in the USLGE account, there may be some rebates.

+ Currently approved centers that do not sign up for this inspection and/or are no longer interested in maintaining their approval should notify the AETA Headquarters, as well.

Attached is the letter to China from USDA regarding the time and schedule. We have emphasized that there only need to be ONE Chinese team which comes for inspections to limit costs and transportation. Spot checks will be made on previously approved centers, but hopefully not many.

January 15, 2008: FDA/USDA and Animal Clones

On Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 12 noon EST, the United States Food and Drug Administration released its Final Risk Assessment on the food safety of animal clones and their progeny, stating that cattle, swine and goat clones and the progeny of animal clones are safe to eat.

- By this action, FDA will not be regulating clones or their progeny

- The food production industries have stepped forward to maintain for the time being a voluntary moratorium on foods from animal clones entering the U.S. food supply and export channels.

- Also on January 15th, at 3:00pm, USDA/USTR/and FDA jointly briefed foreign embassy officials from countries representing significant U.S. export markets for live cattle, beef, dairy and/or pork products.

For your own information, please familiarize yourselves with the information on the following weblinks. These weblinks can be cited to incoming queries as sources for general public information.

For FDA: http://www.fda.gov/cvm/cloning.htm

For USDA:
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/01/0012.xml