RMFU Joins Call for Review of Plan to Import Argentine Beef

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) co-signed a letter to ranking members of the House Committee on Agriculture, requesting that the committee review the USDA’s decision to permit importation of beef from Argentina. The letter, addressed to committee chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and ranking minority member Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), points out that the USDA has a plan in place to import this beef even though “Argentina, and its neighbor Brazil, have documented problems with foot and mouth disease (FMD).”

RMFU and the co-signers feel that this action will leave U.S. livestock industries vulnerable to catastrophic disease. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has identified the highly contagious foot and mouth disease as the most economically devastating livestock disease in the world.

The letter requests that the Agriculture Committee examine this plan closely during its review of food safety issues in the coming months.