Now that federal lawmakers have declined to defund USDA inspections at plants that process horsemeat for human consumption, horse processing in the United States could resume before the end of the year, according to horse processing proponent Wyoming State Rep. Sue Wallis. Wallis sponsored legislation facilitating horse processing plant development in Wyoming and is affiliated with pro-processing groups including United Horsemen and the International Equine Business Association.

Prior to 2005, USDA personnel carried out horsemeat food safety inspections at horse processing plants in the United States. In 2006 Congress voted to strip the USDA of funding for horsemeat inspections. USDA personnel continued to conduct those inspections on a fee-for-service basis until 2007 when a federal court judge ruled against the arrangement. The combination of the funding prohibition and the court decision resulted in the decline of the horse processing industry in the U.S. Since then, appropriations bills have contained amendments denying USDA horsemeat inspection funding. As a result, American horses have been shipped to Mexico and Canada for processing.

Resumption of domestic horse processing became possible on Nov. 17, when Congress passed H.R. 2112. The bill established budgets for the Department of Agriculture through September 2012, but does not contain language specifically defunding USDA horse processing plant inspections. The bill became law on Nov. 18 when President Barak Obama signed it.

With USDA horsemeat inspection funding restored, processing proponents hope to get U.S. horse processing plants on line as soon as possible, Wallis said