Six state governments have filed a court brief in support of an American cattle producer organization that wants to shut the United States border to Canadian beef again.

R-CALF USA is asking a group of 11 judges who sit on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to review a ruling made July 14 that overturned a two-year ban on young Canadian cattle imports due to mad cow disease.

The states say they agree with R-CALF that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was wrong to allow trade in live Canadian cattle to resume. They say the threat of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) could have devastating consequences to human health and the U.S. economy.

"This case is pregnant with public interest of a national character," says the brief filed by the states of Connecticut, West Virginia, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.

"The USDA's proposed rule puts the citizens of the amici states at risk of eating food contaminated with BSE and contracting, and dying from, vCJD (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or mad cow disease.)"

The states urge the Court of Appeals to grant R-CALF's request for a rehearing and to reimpose an injunction against Canadian beef imports.

Since trade in live cattle resumed July 18, Canadian producers have shipped more than 164,000 animals under 30 months of age to the U.S.

It's estimated Canadian beef producers suffered $7 billion in losses since a cow with BSE was found in an Alberta cow in May 2003.

R-CALF, which represents 18,000 U.S. cattle producers, welcomed the support.

"Besides the concern for public health, many of the amici states realize that cattle production is an integral and substantial part of their economies," said R-CALF CEO
Bill Bullard.

The Canadian Cattlemen's Association said the brief filed by the six states was not unexpected because those governments have gone to bat for R-CALF before.

Canadian producers should not be too worried, said John Masswohl, the association's director of international relations. He said remarks in the brief that people in the U.S. are in danger of dying from BSE-contaminated beef are completely unfounded.

"It is always a concern when you have protectionist elements, particularly in government," Masswohl said from Ottawa on Monday.

"But in terms of it affecting the case, I really don't see it. This is just more rhetoric. It is not scientific. It is based on trade protectionism."

Last March, district court Judge Richard Cebull in Montana ruled that USDA import regulations did not adequately protect American consumers and cattle herds from
BSE.

A three-judge Appeal Court panel overturned that ruling July 14, saying Cebull should have respected the expertise of the USDA about the safety risks of Canadian beef.

While trade has resumed in Canadian beef cuts and live cattle under 30 months of age, the federal government and the industry continue to lobby Washington for trade to resume in older cattle and Canadian breeding stock.

That continued ban has cost Canada's beef and dairy breeding industry more than $500 million in lost sales and hurt the industry's ability to improve the genetics of beef herds.

It is estimated there are more than six million beef and dairy cattle in Canadian herds that are over 30 months of age.