DENVER (October 7, 2002) – President Bush today announced the formation of ...

DENVER (October 7, 2002) – President Bush today announced the formation of a Board of Inquiry to determine the impact of the West Coast dock workers' labor dispute.

"We see the president’s action as a vital first step,” said U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Phil Seng. “This walkout costs the country directly in lost sales and wages, but it also damages the reputation the U.S. has established as a reliable supplier of red meat. When you’re working with perishable products, as we are, every hour we delay in finding a resolution means revenue lost, high-quality food wasted.”

Faced with a growing threat to the American economy and American jobs, Bush signed the executive order, taking the first step in the process to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, which could order longshoreman back to work, and implement an 80-day cooling-off period. The government first sought mediation as an alternative solution to this dispute. The mediation process has not succeeded, however, and the President decided to take action to protect America's national health and safety.

"The country already faces slow economic recovery and this only serves to prolong the agony. We need a quick resolution to a situation which each day threatens our relationships in primary export markets – relationships our competitors are more than willing to take over,” Seng noted.

In 2001, according to revised USDA statistics, total U.S. beef exports declined in volume by .4 percent to 1.274 million metric tons, while value declined by 5.7 percent to $ 3.406 billion. Higher U.S. beef prices and a strong U.S. dollar helped push export volumes slightly lower for the first time in more than 10 years. Pork exports grew 21 percent in volume to more than 703,000 metric tons, while value grew 13 percent to nearly $1.6 billion. Exports now account for nearly 13.4 percent of U.S. beef production and more than 9.9 percent of U.S. pork production on a wholesale weight basis.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.

– USMEF –