Rep. Jackson and Chairman Thompson Send Letter to GAO Requesting a Review of USDA’s Final Rule Allowing Dangerous Paraguayan Beef Imports

WASHINGTON, DC - Earlier this week, Congressman Ronny Jackson (TX-13) and House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson (PA-15) sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) demanding a review of the procedures and methodology used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) to finalize the rule allowing Importation of Fresh Beef From Paraguay. On November 14, 2023, the USDA made the decision to begin allowing the importation of fresh Paraguayan beef using risk assessment data from site visits to the country from over 10 years ago. These outdated risk assessments put America's beef, pork, and sheep industries at risk of foreign animal diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), which Paraguay has a long history of in their beef herds.

Jackson said: "Chairman Thompson and I will not stand by and allow the Biden-Harris administration to put our livestock producers and agricultural economies at risk by hastily implementing this rule using outdated information from over ten years ago. This is negligence at best and malfeasance at worst. We demand transparency in the methods used to promulgate this rule, which places the unnecessary risk of an FMD outbreak on American agricultural producers and consumers. Thank you, Chairman Thompson, for joining me in sending this letter, and for the good of our hardworking livestock producers nationwide, I hope we receive answers soon."

Chairman Thompson said: "I appreciate Representative Jackson's continued leadership on this issue and look forward to the final results of the GAO study."

Russell Boening, President of Texas Farm Bureau said: "To protect our nation's cattle herd, we must ensure our trading partners meet the same animal health and food safety standards we pride ourselves on in the U.S. Unfortunately, Paraguay has historically struggled to contain foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks, so importing their beef would pose a serious threat to not only producers, but also consumers. It is important for USDA to use updated scientific data before moving forward with rules that could put our nation's food supply at risk. We thank Congressman Ronny Jackson and Chairman GT Thompson for their efforts regarding this important animal health issue."

The letter can be found here.

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