But U.S. May Not Allow State to Export the Meat : Texas Offers Europe Hormone-Free Beef

Texas is butting into a transatlantic dispute over hormone-treated beef by offering to provide the European Community with chemical-free beef from the Lone Star State.

However, it was not clear Tuesday whether the United States, which retaliated against a number of EC products after the EC banned imports of U.S. hormone-treated meat, would allow Texas to provide the beef.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture apparently has adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower’s offer to find a supply of hormone-free beef in Texas and develop a certification procedure that would satisfy the EC of the meat’s purity.

But Lester Crawford, administrator of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, said there could be a catch for Texas: The state can’t legally label meat for export as hormone-free because a meat label must be truthful and verifiable, yet he said he knows of no test to verify whether cattle were fed growth hormones.

All beef and poultry must be federally inspected to go overseas, he said.

Tom Kay, administrator of the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, said he’s not sure whether the federal government could stop the EC from making a deal with Texas.

“It’s a matter of Texas being able to get the certification the European Community wants, versus whatever certification the U.S. can give,” Kay said.

Ella Krucoff, spokeswoman for Sir Roy Denman, head of EC delegation in Washington, said she knew of no federal law that would bar the shipments.

“Texas solicited us, and we are responding,” she said. “We’re trying to respond favorably to maintain the trade. We haven’t got a legal opinion--that’s up to the U.S. authorities.”

Texas got little support from the American Farm Bureau Federation. The federation contended that the proposal weakens the U.S. position in dealing with the entire issue of trade restraints with Europe, said Paul Drazek, an international trade specialist for the country’s largest farm group.

Europe contends that the hormones, used to fatten growing cattle, are a health threat, which the United States disputes. After Europe banned the beef imports, affecting about $100 million in beef and beef byproducts, the United States retaliated by setting about $100 million of higher tariffs on a variety of products from the Common Market.