WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is opposing the USDA’s recent decision to allow Paraguayan beef imports, starting next month.

The association has repeatedly raised concerns over Paraguay’s history of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks, as well as the USDA’s use of the outdated information from site visits in 2008 and 2014 to justify Paraguay’s access to the U.S. market.

“In comments we submitted in May, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association outlined our concerns with the outdated information, and cautioned the USDA to not rely on questionable information,” Kent Bacus, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association executive director of government affairs, told Farm World.

“We encouraged the USDA to halt the application process until a new risk assessment can be completed, based on recent site visits,” he added.

According to the World Organization for Animal Health, foot-and-mouth disease is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of livestock that has a significant economic impact. The disease affects cattle, swine, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed ruminants.

The disease is characterized by fever and blister-like sores on the tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the teats and between the hooves. The disease causes severe production losses, and while the majority of affected animals recover, the disease often leaves them weakened and debilitated.

Bacus said it is unclear if Paraguay’s inspection system can provide an equivalent level of safety for animal health to prevent a possible foot-and-mouth disease outbreak on U.S. soil.

“Paraguay heavily relies on private sector funding for most of its foot-and-mouth disease mitigation measures, and the USDA did not consider the risk associated with Paraguay’s economic downturn over the last several years,” he said.

Currently, Paraguay ships roughly 90 percent of its beef to five markets: Brazil, Chile, Israel, Russia, and Taiwan.

Bacus said gaining beef access to the U.S. market has been the top priority for Paraguay in multiple rounds of trade discussions.

“Unfortunately, this is not the first time that a foreign country’s beef access to the United States was a pre-determined outcome, and used as a bargaining tool for other U.S. interests,” he said. “The dismissal of legitimate concerns from U.S. cattle producers is unacceptable, and the USDA should halt this unscientific, unsafe rule-making.

“While winning friends and allies in South America may be part of the long-term interests of U.S. diplomacy, it should not be done on the backs of U.S. cattle producers, nor by putting at risk the health and livelihood of the safest and most efficient cattle and beef production system in the world,” he added.

“As stated in the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Nov. 13 letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack,” Bacus said, “the proper action from the USDA, at minimum, should be to delay the approval process until recent data can be collected through in-person visits consistent with the recommendations of U.S. Government Accountability Office, not just paper reviews.

“Should the USDA decide to proceed with granting access to Paraguay, there should be 100 percent inspection of all Paraguayan beef imports for a minimum of one year, and the USDA should move swiftly to suspend access if Paraguay’s track record resembles the failures of Brazil,” he added. “We should not simply take Paraguay’s word for it.”