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TheSite Foot and Mouth Disease News
Friday, July 11, 2008
Print This Page FMD Fears Keep Argentinian Meat from US
WASHINGTON – National Farmers Union announced support for the Foot and Mouth Disease Prevention Act of 2008 introduced today by Sens. Tim Johnson, D-S.D. and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., that would prevent imports of Argentinean meat products until the U.S. Department of Agriculture certifies the country Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) free.“The legislation’s proposed ban is necessary to protect the nation’s food supply,” NFU President Tom Buis said.
FMD is a highly infectious virus that, if introduced into the United States, could contaminate entire herds and leave producers in financial ruin. According to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the economic impacts of a re-occurrence of FMD in the United States could cost the economy billions of dollars in the first year alone.
“Requiring a country like Argentina, with such an apparent problem with this devastating disease, to prove FMD-free status is an acceptable standard to trade,” Buis said. “Opening our borders to Argentine ruminant products is a risk that American producers simply cannot afford.”
