WASHINGTON — The US Senate passed a bipartisan Congressional Review Act (CRA) on March 21 led by Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) as it looks to suspend beef imports from Paraguay to the United States.

Tester and Rounds’ CRA passed the chamber with a 70-25 veto-proof majority. The resolution will now head to the House. The CRA is an oversight tool Congress may use to overturn final rules issued by federal agencies by a simple majority vote.

In February, the Senators officially filed their bipartisan CRA to overturn the Biden administration’s decision.

Rounds and Tester filed the initial legislation on December 2023. The senators called on the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to collect more up-to-date data before resuming beef imports from a country like Paraguay with a recent history of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks.

“President Biden butchered this decision,” Tester said. “By cutting corners to resume beef imports from a country with a recent history of foot-and- mouth disease, the Biden administration is jeopardizing our food supply and giving Montana consumers and producers a raw deal. We cannot allow beef imports from Paraguay until we have data that shows they are meeting the same high animal health standards as American ranchers, and I’m proud to have secured overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate to force the Biden Administration to reverse course.” 

Previous statements by Rounds and Tester stated that Paraguay last reported foot-and-mouth disease cases in 2012. The senators also said the USDA’s decision to resume Paraguayan imports relies on an analysis completed in 2018, and American inspectors have not conducted a site visit to Paraguay since 2014.

“South Dakota is known for having high quality beef produced by hard-working farmers and ranchers across the state,” Rounds said. “We have very high standards regarding the quality of our beef. Unfortunately, Paraguay does not have the same history of enforcing health and safety standards that we do. Our inspectors haven’t been to Paraguay in 10 years. Consumers deserve to have a high degree of confidence in the quality and safety of beef they want to serve their families. There is more work that needs to be done with Paraguay before introducing their beef in American markets.”

The resolution from the senators also had significant support from R-CALF USA, the US Cattlemen’s Association (USCA), the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the National Farmers Union.

“USDA’s decision to allow Paraguayan beef imports into the US creates an unnecessary risk to the health and safety of the US cattle herd,” said Kent Bacus, executive director of government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). “US cattle producers are held to the highest food safety and animal health standards in the world and any trade partner must be able to demonstrate they can meet those same standards. Given Paraguay’s long history of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks, it is simply too risky to allow Paraguayan imports without recent site visits to confirm Paraguay’s safety claims.”

The Biden administration first announced lifting the ban on beef from Paraguay in November 2023.