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FDA delays passage of new rendering regulation

By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Food and Drug Administration has temporarily halted the implementation of an enhanced feed ban rule that would have affected the livestock rendering business.

According to the FDA, the proposal “builds on the (agency’s) 1997 feed regulation, which prohibited the use of certain mammalian proteins in ruminant feed.” It states that “the materials (brain and spinal cord) that can no longer be used in animal feed are the tissues that have the highest risk for carrying the agent thought to cause BSE (Mad Cow Disease.)

The delay comes just a few weeks before the proposal was set to go into effect.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer spoke out strongly against the rule traveling to Washington along with his counterparts from other states to meet with Obama administration officials in order to seek the delay.

“I’m grateful that the FDA listened to the people whose livelihoods will be affected by this rule,” Farmer said. “This delay will provide additional time for producers, renderers and haulers to determine how we can comply with the rule and still make sure farmers have an affordable and accessible means of disposing of dead animals.”
According to information from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, “the FDA extended the effective date of the enhanced feed ban rule 60 days from the original effective date of April 27. Publication of the notice in the Federal Register will open a 30-day comment period during which comments will be taken on whether the rule should be delayed more than 60 days.”

Many in the cattle industry feel this delay will not likely keep the rule from actually taking effect but it will give states and local government officials time to work on a solution.

Gabe Nation, owner of Nation Bothers, an animal pick-up business serving 22 counties in Central Kentucky, came out in strong opposition to the ban going as far as to stop his services early in March to bring attention to the ordeal.

“The FDA has no test to check meat and bone meal for the presence of the brain and spinal cord from bovines over 30 months of age so essentially this is a ‘paper law,’” Nation said. “I believe this regulation will do exactly the opposite of what it is supposed to do. We are going to lose control of herd health because the animals will be lying in a sinkhole somewhere. Honesty and integrity are not part of this game, this is simple politics.”

Nation Bothers picks up approximately 9 million pounds of dead animals most of which is paid by county governments.
If the new rule stands, the cost of removing the “at risk” materials could send the cost of pick up and rendering skyrocketing according to many in the industry.

The FDA estimates compliance with the new rule will cost the rendering industry between $64 million and $80.5 million per year. Additionally, the agency estimates U.S. cattle producers will lose between $28 million and $39 million per year. This loss is expected due to lower cattle prices to offset segregation and disposal costs at slaughter, loss for cattle no longer rendered, and increased dead stock collection fees.

Jim Acres, chief operating officer of the Bluegrass Stockyard Marketing Group said the rule is a sell-out due to foreign trade agreements.

“This extension is a temporary reprieve at best. I’ll be honest it’s just another example of being over zealous in trade agreements. We have failed to negotiate from the standpoint of strength and have given in on some things we already had systems in place that very effectively addressed those issues,” he said. “At the end of the day I think the net effect of where we end up with this FDA regulation is there is going to be unintended consequences. Everybody is not going to do it right. That’s not going to be positive to the industry. It’s going to be a problem. We had a wonderful system in place that worked very, very well and we’ve trashed it. I’m rarely negative but on this one I’m pretty negative. I think we sold ourselves out.”

The state used to supply grant money to pay for such expenses but had to discontinue due to lack of funding.

4/2/2009