An effort by USDA to regulate livestock markets would harm the U.S. meat industry's ability to compete on world markets, says the American Meat Institute.
Implementation of USDA's so-called GIPSA rule "would largely eliminate the marketing agreements that are used to maintain customized meat production programs," such as one that supplies the EU with beef that is certified hormone free under a 45,000 tonne quota each of the next three years, AMI said.
It also would threaten the systems that now produce "natural" beef, meat from age-verified livestock and specialized production systems such as Certified Angus Beef.
"International customers pay a premium to U.S. producers and packers who meet these requirements and producers benefit from participating in these specialty programs," AMI said. "If the proposed rule is finalized, the U.S. would stand to lose international markets because competing suppliers in other countries will not face similar restrictions."
The inability to produce and guarantee the meat characteristics demanded overseas would turn U.S. beef and pork cuts into commodity cuts with lower values and lower returns to producers and packers throughout the production and marketing chain," wrote AMI Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mark Dopp. "Specifically, an erosion of the U.S. position in Asian and European premium meat markets likely would result from the implementation of this rule."
