Washington ? U.S. agriculture officials have rebuffed a meatpacker’s plan to test every animal at its Kansas slaughterhouse for mad cow disease.

The refusal quiets a firestorm in the cattle industry sparked by Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a small Kentucky-based meatpacking company that was seeking to privately test each animal at its Arkansas City, Kan., plant.

“We are looking at what the consensus of international experts is when it comes to testing, and that consensus is that 100 percent testing is not justified,” Agriculture Department spokeswoman Alisa Harrison said late Thursday.

“That’s why we feel at this time we cannot grant Creekstone’s requested timeline for a decision,” Harrison said.

Creekstone said its customers in Japan, the biggest market for U.S. beef, promised to buy Creekstone beef again if the company tested for the brain-wasting disease in every animal processed at the plant.

“I think the issue is always going to be open,” Harrison said. “(But) we are at a very delicate and sensitive time in discussions with our trading partners and that’s where our focus is.”

The company did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press.

The department is under pressure from some lawmakers and consumer advocates to expand its testing program. Japan, the biggest market for U.S. beef, is demanding that the United States test all 35 million cattle that are slaughtered each year.

Scientists have said that testing each animal was excessive. And the American beef industry is worried about the cost of such testing. Industry officials fear that any false-positive tests could potentially scare consumers and cause beef sales to slide, and that Creekstone’s plan would set a precedent for trade negotiations.

“We want a level playing field for all companies based on science,” said Gary Webber, director of regulatory affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assn.

Reaction in Congress was mixed. Kansas GOP Sen. Pat Roberts, a Senate Agriculture Committee member, praised the USDA’s decision.

“If we are to make policy decisions regarding BSE, these decisions must be made in the best long-term interests of Kansas and U.S. beef producers,” Roberts said in a statement. “Our policies should be based on sound science and the current state of trade negotiations with our international buyers.”

However, Kansas GOP Rep. Todd Tiahrt warned of the impact on the struggling economy in south-central Kansas, where a meatpacking plant has operated in one form or another for at least 80 years. Employing about 780 workers at its height, Creekstone became the city’s biggest employer.

Lost markets have already prompted Creekstone to lay off 45 workers. Company officials have said they would cut a quarter of the remaining work force by May and could shut the plant down altogether unless they are permitted to do the testing.