USDA offering indemnification

Published: Friday, June 01, 2001

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has put a policy in place to pay U.S. livestock producers for animals that must be slaughtered to control an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Under guidelines of the plan from the USDA and Office of Management and Budget, farmers and ranchers would be paid 100 percent of the fair market value of their animals.

The White House also is looking into compensation for additional expenses, such as the cost of disinfecting or the cost of feed for livestock awaiting slaughter or vaccinations.

Indemnification funds will come from the USDA'S Commodity Credit Corporation. The USDA has the broad authority to spend whatever is needed to control any outbreak of plant or animal disease in the country, with the cooperation of the OMB.

The USDA currently has banned the import of livestock and certain livestock byproducts from the European Union and countries with foot-and-mouth disease. The USDA and the Texas Department of Agriculture are warning travelers to take the necessary precautions to make sure they don't bring back the virus on their clothes or personal items.

"Indemnification is an important step in our aggressive efforts to keep foot-and-mouth disease out of the United States," said Susan Combs, TDA commissioner. "The thought of losing everything that sometimes has taken generations to build had many of our farmers and ranchers worried.

"If an outbreak does occur in Texas or the United States, producers can rest assured that they will be compensated for any livestock they lose to this devastating disease. This is an additional incentive to report signs of the disease they might find in their herds."

The USDA also has removed the March 13 import restrictions placed on certain European Union countries, following the completion of a scientific risk assessment performed by its Animal Plant Health Inspection Service.

The restrictions are being lifted in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Sweden because no cases of foot-and-mouth have been reported there.

Import restrictions will remain in effect in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Greece, where there have been confirmed reports of foot-and-mouth in recent months.

The status of those countries continues to be evaluated and requires further risk analysis, evaluation and site visits.

Although the USDA has removed import restrictions for certain European Union member states that are unaffected by the current foot-and-mouth situation, stringent measures continue to be taken to reduce the risk of spreading the disease to this country.


