U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, led a bipartisan group of senators in expressing support for the cattle industry’s recent requests for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately suspend fresh beef imports from Brazil.

In 2017, Brazilian fresh beef imports were suspended due to food safety concerns, and USDA allowed these imports to resume in 2020. The Senators are concerned with Brazil’s recent failure to quickly disclose two cases of atypical spongiform encephalopathy – a neurological disease of cattle – which could pose a significant threat to the health and safety of the U.S. cattle herd. 

“Cattle producers across the country work hard to produce the highest quality beef in the world,” the Senators wrote. “This industry should not be jeopardized by Brazilian beef imports that may contaminate U.S. herds and our food supply. We support the requests to suspend Brazilian fresh beef imports until a thorough investigation can be made into Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Supply food safety review process.” 

This letter also was signed by U.S. Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).

Read the full letter here.