Concerns over mad cow disease caused the border to be closed until Canada's agriculture minister announced a truck carrying cattle was transported to the U.S.
Minister of Agriculture Andy Mitchell says in a statement, ''It is with great pleasure that I advise today is the first day since May 2003 that live cattle shipments are crossing the border from Canada into the United States."
A U.S. federal appeals court in San Francisco overturned a ban on the animals Thursday, opening the doors for both countries' officials to quickly open the border to Canadian cattle - a lower court still harbored concerns over the disease.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it would reopen the border to Canadian cattle under 30 months old within a few days of the ruling.
The ban went into effect in May 2003 after Canada discovered its first case of mad cow disease.
The U.S. National Meat Association says the ban has cost the industry about $1.7 billion because, as fewer cows were processed, some packing houses were forced to close or scale back.
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA), which represents some 90,000 beef producers, estimates they have lost more than $5.7 billion.
