Creekstone Farms Premium Beef LLC, the Kansas-based meat producer, shouldn't be allowed to test beef for mad-cow disease on its own because it could hurt the U.S. cattle industry, a government lawyer told an appeals court.

``They are creating a false assurance'' because the test Creekstone wants to use can't show that meat is completely free of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, Justice Department attorney Eric Fleisig-Greene told the court at a hearing today in Washington.

``The test is not only unnecessary, but it has no value whatsoever,'' Fleisig-Greene told the three-judge panel, adding that a ``false positive'' from the company's testing would hurt the entire U.S. cattle industry.

Japan, South Korea and dozens of other countries suspended or curbed imports of U.S. beef after the U.S. found its first case of mad-cow disease in 2003. Creekstone, which wants to assure customers in Asia and elsewhere that its beef is tested for BSE, won a district court ruling last year overturning the ban. Implementation was delayed pending the appeal.

The U.S. government asked the appeals court to reverse the lower court's ruling, arguing that the test is ``worthless'' for Creekstone's intended purpose. The U.S. says its meat supply is protected by a 1997 regulation banning use of cattle parts in animal feed, which is how scientists believe the disease is spread among cattle. The government tests only a small percentage of slaughtered cattle for the presence of BSE.

`Bogus Vaccines'

The Agriculture Department rejected the company's request in 2004 to voluntarily test its cattle for BSE, which can kill people who eat diseased meat. The agency's authority to regulate testing is based on a 1913 law regulating the distribution of toxins.

``This statute is to protect farmers from bogus vaccines'' and is ``an extreme example of government paternalism,'' Creekstone lawyer Russell Frye told the court. The closely held company wants to use the product ``to assure customers, especially Asian customers, that they are buying tested beef.''

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