WASHINGTON — Soon after the US Department of Agriculture published a final rule allowing the importation of Paraguayan beef, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) voiced concerns.

The group said it “strongly opposes” the USDA’s decision due to concerns of Paraguay’s history of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The association also said USDA relied on outdated information from site visits in 2008 and 2014 to inform its decision on the safety of Paraguay beef imports.

“USDA based their decision to allow beef imports from Paraguay on a deeply flawed risk assessment that uses old data from site visits that were conducted more than nine years ago,” said NCBA Executive Director of Government Affairs Kent Bacus. "Paraguay has a history of FMD outbreaks, and it is unclear if their inspection system can provide an equivalent level of safety for animal health to prevent a possible FMD outbreak on US soil. Paraguay heavily relies on private sector funding for most of its FMD mitigation measures, and USDA did not consider the risk associated with Paraguay’s economic downturn over the last several years.”

USDA published the rule in the Federal Register the week of Nov. 13. The rule will take effect 30 days following its publication.

During the 60-day comment period after the rule was first proposed in March, NCBA proclaimed its opposition against the rule.