Columbia trade deal bad for cattlemen, U.S.

By Eric Nelson
Friday, April 11, 2008 3:31 PM CDT

The Colombia FTA would limit inspections and safety requirements for food imported into the U.S. from Colombia, incluing an ”equivalence determinations” that require the U.S. to permit imports of meat and poultry products that do not meet U.S. safety standards.

Once the so-called “equivalence” is achieved, Colombian food products imported into the U.S. must only meet the standards of the exporting country n not those of the importing country.

The Colombia FTA is, essentially, an extension of the North American Free Trade Agreement because it continues to treat cattle and beef as if they were storable industrial goods, rather than perishable and cyclical products.

The ITC (International Trade Commission) and Congress predicted NAFTA likely would have no impact on the U.S. cattle industry because duties, at that time, were already considered small. However, the trade surplus the U.S. had in beef trade between Mexico and Canada soon evaporated. By 2005, the deficit had reached $613 million.

Another concern is that the U.S. is expected to export to Colombia primarily high-quality beef products, while Colombia will be able to send us beef in which we have no idea what production standards were used.

The U.S. inspects only about 11 percent of imported beef, pork and poultry, and we certainly don’t have the resources to ensure that Colombia is not using veterinary drugs, pesticides and feed supplements that are banned here in the United States.

Additionally, the Colombia FTA’s rule of origin does not require beef to be derived from cattle born, raised and slaughtered in Colombia.

That means live cattle from surrounding South American countries can be exported to Colombia, slaughtered in Colombia, and the resulting beef would qualify to be exported to the United States. The U.S. has the highest production standards in the world, and we should be using trade agreements to help elevate the production standards in foreign countries, not lowering our standards simply to facilitate more beef imports into the U.S.

The Colombia FTA will result not only in an increased food safety risk, but also economic harm to U.S. cattle farmers and ranchers.

Eric Nelson is R-CALF USA Region VII director and cochairman of the group’s trade committee

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