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Senate passes CRA on Paraguayan beef imports

The US Senate has passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to override the Biden administration’s decision to resume beef imports from Paraguay despite animal health concerns.

The CRA, introduced by Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) passed with a bipartisan, 70-25, veto-proof majority vote.

Kent Bacus with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says the vote sends a clear message, but it’s just the first step, “The fact that USDA hadn’t had boots on the ground in Paraguay in ten years to confirm what Paraguay is telling them, that they can provide us a level of safety, we think that is just unacceptable.”

He tells Brownfield Paraguay has a long history of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks and allowing the country to have access to the U.S. market is too risky, “This still has to go over the House of Representatives, where they need to have a majority vote there, but it helps if we can get two thirds of the House to support and the reason why is we need this to be veto proof.”

Senator Tester says President Biden butchered this decision and it jeopardizes the U.S. food supply.

The resolution is supported by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), US Cattlemen’s Association, R-CALF USA, the Livestock Marketing Association, National Farmers Union, Montana Farmers Union, Montana Stockgrowers Association, and the Montana Farm Bureau Federation.