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Canadian import problems

RobertMac

Well-known member
Have I missed this issue on ranchers.net....?

AgDay reported this morning that there have been problems with hundreds of loads of cattle from Canada (papers didn't match the loads) and Washington state had thousands of pages of documentation to back it up. Anyone in the know on this or is it another case of the R-CALF phantom???????
 

Mike

Well-known member
Posted on Mon, Feb. 19, 2007

Canadian cattle entering U.S. without ID tags, documents show
By Stephen J. Hedges

Chicago Tribune

(MCT)

SPOKANE, Wash. - Hundreds of cattle from Canada, which this month confirmed its ninth case of mad cow disease, have entered the United States without government-required health papers or identification tags, according to documents obtained by cattlemen in Washington state.

The documents, consisting largely of correspondence between state officials and American cattle and meat companies, suggest problems with numerous truckloads of cattle that are shipped into this country almost daily. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently launched an investigation into the Canadian cattle trade based on the documents, according to a top department official.

Many of the documents note that cattle arrived in the U.S. without identification tags, or they had tag numbers that did not match the accompanying health certificates. Overall, the approximately 700 pages of records suggest that officials from Washington and possibly other states are having difficulty tracking hundreds of cattle that arrive from Canada each week.

Ranchers and food safety groups criticize the USDA, saying it has insufficiently monitored the movement of cattle into the U.S. Lax regulation of the border trade, these critics say, could lead to more mad cow cases in the U.S., undermining consumer confidence in beef.

Mad cow, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is a neurological disease that attacks a cow's central nervous system. It is believed that humans can contract variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a disorder that eats away at the brain, by consuming meat from BSE-infected cattle.

Ear tags or electronic identification - EID - tags that are supposed to be on cattle entering the U.S. from Canada are meant to track the cattle in case of an outbreak of disease or other problem. Health certificates confirm the health of cattle and also that they are under 30 months old, because young cattle are not thought to be fully vulnerable to mad cow.

Together, the tags and health papers provide the major protection against sick cows coming into the country. The USDA is supposed to work with Canadian agriculture officials to ensure that all incoming cattle have these safeguards.

But the documents obtained by the ranchers show that this often is not the case.

In a memo dated March 7, 2006, representatives of one American cattle operation wrote, "52 head of the 60 came in NO EID. The papers have a mixture of EID & bar codes for official tags. We recorded the bar codes (although a couple came in with no tags at all) and gave them our EID tag."

Numerous state documents listing each truckload of cattle - about 40 to 65 head of cattle are on each truck - include the notation "tag not matched" next to the individual truckload number.

"We had a load come in with the wrong health papers all together," stated an e-mail dated April 6 to the state from a cattle firm. "It was never caught at the border." The correct health papers for that load of 66 cattle, the e-mail's author noted, were later obtained from officials at the U.S.-Canadian border.

In a statement, the Washington State Veterinarian's Office said it works with the USDA "to reconcile the ear tags on cattle with Canadian brands with the information on the USDA documents."

The Veterinarian's Office is giving more scrutiny than ever to the movement of imported cattle, the statement said.

"Some of the animal identification numbers on the USDA importation documents were transposed or did not match the ear tag, and some animals lost ear tags in transit. These kinds of things can and do occur in the commerce of animals," the statement said.

The Cattle Producers of Washington, the organization that obtained the documents under Washington state's Public Disclosure Act, is a group of ranchers and cattle brokers many of whose members live not far from where the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was discovered in December 2003.

That dairy cow, found in Mabton, Wash., had been imported from Canada, which had discovered its own mad cow four months earlier.

After the 2003 mad cow discoveries, the USDA halted the shipment of Canadian cattle and beef products into the United States. But in 2005, the USDA began to allow shipments of cattle younger than 30 months.

The cattle producers said they sought the records to determine whether the state and federal governments were enforcing regulations that govern Canadian imports. They are concerned about the impact of lower-priced Canadian imports on their own businesses, as well as the potential spread of disease from Canadian cattle that don't have proper medical papers.

The ranchers said they are worried about foot-and-mouth disease as well as mad cow. "Mad cow doesn't spread cow-to-cow," noted Willard Wolf, a cattle broker from Spokane who is vice president of the Cattle Producers of Washington. "Foot-and-mouth does, and it could affect a whole herd."

The cattlemen notified the USDA of the documentation problems several weeks ago, according to Bruce Knight, the USDA's undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs. "We have folks initiating an investigation, trying to draw all the information together," Knight said.

The documents also suggest that Washington state has had difficulty tracking Canadian cattle once they are in the U.S. In early 2006, for instance, the Washington Agriculture Department sent out notices trying to determine where older Canadian cows might be.

A notice dated March 9, 2006, from Cynthia Fairley, of the state's animal identification program, asked an unidentified cattle company about 219 Canadian cattle in the U.S. that apparently were over the 30-month age limit. It was unclear from the memo whether the cattle had entered the U.S. before the 2003 import ban.

"Here is the list of ... Canadian cattle over 30 months old for which we have no record of slaughter," Fairley wrote. "Could you please verify that they have gone and where they've gone?"

In an e-mail on February 3, 2006, from Fairley to a cattle company, she listed 32 cattle that were missing health certificates. "I know it seems like a lot," Fairley wrote, "but we've accounted for every scrap of paper and they're definitely not here."

Meanwhile, two meatpacking companies, joined by cattle feed lot owners and brokers in the U.S. and Canada, have sued Washington state for releasing the documents. The suit claims the release violates a state law protecting confidential business information from disclosure.

Kristen Mitchell, an assistant Washington attorney general, said the Cattle Producers of Washington requested the documents before the new law took effect.

Washington isn't the only state struggling to identify imported Canadian cattle.

In South Dakota, cattle rancher Jan Van Dyke of Wessington Springs has been in a dispute with the USDA and a large meatpacking company, Swift & Co., over eight of the 43 cattle that he sent to Swift for slaughter in 2006.

Swift initially withheld payment for the cattle - about $11,000, Van Dyke said, because Swift said they were Canadian and without health papers.

Swift later agreed to pay the $11,000, Van Dyke said. Knight said a USDA investigation showed that the cattle were brought into the U.S. by Swift, and that they had been accidentally mingled with Van Dyke's cattle.

Van Dyke contends, however, that the cattle were his and that he was paid only after the issue became public during a January conference in Denver with Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Charles Conner.

---

© 2007, Chicago Tribune.
 

Mike

Well-known member
Guelph

Problems with cows are 'minor': U.S.


WASHINGTON (Feb 21, 2007)

U.S. officials are dismissing problems with Canadian cows as "minor" after a Washington state group complained hundreds are entering the United States without ear tags or proper documents.

The Cattle Producers of Washington says a slew of information it obtained has raised safety concerns because of export mistakes over several months last year.

But Andrea McNally, spokesperson for the U.S. Agriculture Department, said yesterday a preliminary government review has found "minor problems that have to do with record-keeping."

"They have no bearing on whether the animal can enter," she said. "These are record violations at the state level."

If cattle shipments don't meet import rules, they aren't allowed into the country, she said, and the bulk of the violations involve U.S. feed lots failing to send notices to the state veterinarian when cows go to be slaughtered.

The documents are still under review.

"If we find there are larger problems, we'll respond appropriately," said McNally.

Canadian industry officials chalk up the complaints to the group's close alignment with R-CALF, a Montana-based organization that's tried for years to stop beef and cattle from crossing the border.

Willard Wolf, vice-president of the Washington cattlemen's group, insisted there's a lot at stake, particularly now that the U.S. wants to resume importing older cows.

"I'm not a protectionist," Wolf said from Spokane. "I want to trade with Canada. I've got a lot of good friends in Canada in the industry and I respect them.

"The cattle coming in now isn't a disaster but it could be made better if the Canadians did a better job. That's their responsibility. And it's our responsibility not to screw it up on this side of the border."

Wolf said the documents show that 10 to 15 per cent of some 20,000 cows entering the state each month didn't have required ear tags or the tags didn't match the paperwork.

They're required to track the animals in case there's an outbreak of disease or any other problems.

In a statement, the Washington State Veterinarian's Office said tags do sometimes get lost or transposed in transit.

There were also five cows older than 30 months which were sent back, said Wolf. Those animals were banned in 2003 after Canada's first mad cow case because they're thought to be more likely to contract the disease.

The Agriculture Department is taking public comments until March 12 on allowing them in again.

This month, Canada confirmed its ninth case of mad cow, worrying some officials that it would provide more fodder for R-CALF's efforts to keep the border closed.

The Washington group got the documents because it had members serving on an advisory board studying a national ID system for U.S. animals.

The board decided to take a look at Canada's system after the U.S. Agriculture Department praised it.

"All we heard from those people is Canada's well ahead of us, they already have a good ID system in place," said Wolf.

"Well, if this is the cat's meow . . ."

The United States has found three of its own cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE.

The first was in a Washington state cow originally from Canada. The other two were native-born animals in Texas and Alabama.

Canadian producers say resuming trade in older cows will give them an extra C$450 million a year.

The border should open all the way only when there are more U.S. inspectors to ensure everyone's doing their job properly, said Wolf.
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
This reminds me of shortly after 911 when the US had a fit because they claimed these terrorists crossed in from Canada....the operative word being FROM,they got through YOUR borders.If these cattle are coming in without tags and paper work it seems to me its a problam at the US border. Is that the way you guys see it too :)
 

Jason

Well-known member
Anyone who has ever taken cattle across the line knows how exact everything has to be.

Every document has to be in order or they send you home.

Random trucks of fat cattle have a handful of them offloaded and tags checked just to see if they match. If they don't, the whole load goes home, and that trucker/ feedlot is flagged for all their loads.

These cattle have had their tags read at least twice if not more. Vets have to do the paper work here and can lose their accreditation if they screw up.

This article is just hype with half truths an innuendo. Bar code tags are allowed still, and up to 5% tag loss is acceptable.
 

don

Well-known member
sounds like the americans are taking up the korean strategy of using a technicality as a non-tariff trade barrier. yawn. some things never change.
 

Tommy

Well-known member
MG....If these cattle are coming in without tags and paper work it seems to me its a problam at the US border. Is that the way you guys see it too?

How can that be? You tell us that all of your cattle have to be ID'ed. That it is mandatory. So how do they leave the sale barn or ranch without proper ID's?
 

Big Muddy rancher

Well-known member
Tommy said:
MG....If these cattle are coming in without tags and paper work it seems to me its a problam at the US border. Is that the way you guys see it too?

How can that be? You tell us that all of your cattle have to be ID'ed. That it is mandatory. So how do they leave the sale barn or ranch without proper ID's?


They don't.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Jason said:
Anyone who has ever taken cattle across the line knows how exact everything has to be.

Every document has to be in order or they send you home.

Random trucks of fat cattle have a handful of them offloaded and tags checked just to see if they match. If they don't, the whole load goes home, and that trucker/ feedlot is flagged for all their loads.

.

Problem is Jason they are not doing that anymore....According to the Dept of Livestock folks I talked to--Fats are being allowed across and coming across border crossings that no longer even have corrals or loading chutes to offload and check them....USDA again is going on just what the Canadian vet or CFIA guys say are on the manifest- allowing them to seal the trucks- and are not double checking...The US guys peek in the truck and if they see a couple with tags they OK it...USDA/Immigration/Homeland Security should be providing a system of checks and balances.......

Too me that is not a system......USDA again is not doing the job it was mandated by Congress to do (which is nothing new).....
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
Tommy said:
MG....If these cattle are coming in without tags and paper work it seems to me its a problam at the US border. Is that the way you guys see it too?

How can that be? You tell us that all of your cattle have to be ID'ed. That it is mandatory. So how do they leave the sale barn or ranch without proper ID's?
Tommy,our cattle cannot leave our place to be sold without tags...period :!: If these cattle are not tagged that Canadas problam.....if they're crossing your border without tags and paperwork...that YOUR problam,its your border patrol that allowing untagged animals to CROSS the border.Get it?Now do you agree its your problam?
 

Jason

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Jason said:
Anyone who has ever taken cattle across the line knows how exact everything has to be.

Every document has to be in order or they send you home.

Random trucks of fat cattle have a handful of them offloaded and tags checked just to see if they match. If they don't, the whole load goes home, and that trucker/ feedlot is flagged for all their loads.

.

Problem is Jason they are not doing that anymore....According to the Dept of Livestock folks I talked to--Fats are being allowed across and coming across border crossings that no longer even have corrals or loading chutes to offload and check them....USDA again is going on just what the Canadian vet or CFIA guys say are on the manifest- allowing them to seal the trucks- and are not double checking...The US guys peek in the truck and if they see a couple with tags they OK it...USDA/Immigration/Homeland Security should be providing a system of checks and balances.......

Too me that is not a system......USDA again is not doing the job it was mandated by Congress to do (which is nothing new).....

If you see 1 number in a load of 45 fats, chances are if it matches so do all the others. If the vet isn't reading that tag, then Mrs. Greg is right, it is a US problem.

Then the USDA vet at the slaughter plant is supposed to check the seal, and the paper work. Likely at the Ne. plant where the mix up happened with Van Dyke, the vet had already signed off on the cattle and the plant employee that mixed things up didn't want his butt on the line.
 

Tommy

Well-known member
MG...If these cattle are not tagged that Canadas problam.....if they're crossing your border without tags and paperwork...that YOUR problam,its your border patrol that allowing untagged animals to CROSS the border.Get it?Now do you agree its your problam?


Yes I do agree that if they cross the border without tags and being branded it is our problem. But my question was how can that be if ALL Canadian cattle are IDed when they leave the ranch or place of sale?? Are you telling me that the tags and brands fell off in the trailer? [/b]
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
Tommy said:
MG...If these cattle are not tagged that Canadas problam.....if they're crossing your border without tags and paperwork...that YOUR problam,its your border patrol that allowing untagged animals to CROSS the border.Get it?Now do you agree its your problam?


Yes I do agree that if they cross the border without tags and being branded it is our problem. But my question was how can that be if ALL Canadian cattle are IDed when they leave the ranch or place of sale?? Are you telling me that the tags and brands fell off in the trailer? [/b]
Tommy...don't worry your pretty little head about our tags,we'll deal with that :roll: You worry about how they "SUPPOSEDLY" crossed YOUR border.
 

fulton

Well-known member
Blame the US, blame RCALF or "RCULT", its the U.S.'s problem. Sorry Canada its all our fault. You do way more testing for BSE. Thats why there rare more cases of it in your country than the U.S. etc.

I wonder how you would feel if things were changed around. If the US had more cases than you and ruined your market for a period of time, yet continued to blame you for it, how would you feel?

That being said, I feel horrible for what you guys are going through. If I was in the same position, I dont know if I could have made it through the ordeal and keep pushing like so many of you have.

However I dont see how you can fault us for wanting to keep our export market open to other countries, when you continue to find more cases of BSE in your country. I would sure like to be able to export beef to Japan if at all possible.

Okay, bring on the name calling again. :wink:
 

Kato

Well-known member
But has your market really been ruined? :shock: I thought you guys had some pretty good prices over the past three years. Your market still seems to have some relevance to the cattle cycle. Unlike ours.

To put it into perspective, exports for your country are more of an icing on the cake, with the vast majority of your beef going into domestic markets.

For us, the export market is/was our main market. Canada has roughly the population of California. It is the second largest country in the world, with a lot of land most suited to livestock production. We need export markets to make use of the food we grow. We also need export markets for the energy we produce, and don't hear any complaining about that going south. We are an exporting nation. We are also Americas biggest trading partner, and buy an extraordinary amount of American goods.

Our cattle markets were traditionally set by your prices with the exchange rate factored in. You can ask any Canadian farmer at any time what the dollar is worth, and you will get an answer. Before the border closed, we locked in cattle using the same futures contracts you do. Our papers reported your futures prices along with our market reports, along with all your number on feed and outlooks. Our auction mart has a DTN machine in the lobby reporting your futures still.

Our two markets were very integrated, but most American cattlemen weren't nearly as aware of it as we were. We just weren't a big deal to you, since whatever we did would not really affect you nearly the way your markets would affect us.

The loss of the American market to us is more like it would be for you to lose three quarters of your own domestic market in terms of damage to individuals.

This is why we're cranky.
 

feeder

Well-known member
I'm starting to get more cranky the more fats I sell. A few months after the border opened I started losing money for every darn fat that left my farm. One more year of this and I'll really be cranky.
 

Work Hard and Study Hard

Well-known member
Mrs.Greg said:
Tommy said:
MG....If these cattle are coming in without tags and paper work it seems to me its a problam at the US border. Is that the way you guys see it too?

How can that be? You tell us that all of your cattle have to be ID'ed. That it is mandatory. So how do they leave the sale barn or ranch without proper ID's?
Tommy,our cattle cannot leave our place to be sold without tags...period :!: If these cattle are not tagged that Canadas problam.....if they're crossing your border without tags and paperwork...that YOUR problam,its your border patrol that allowing untagged animals to CROSS the border.Get it?Now do you agree its your problam?

I totally agree, we need no stop all Canadian cattle from crossing the border indefinately until we get this problem corrected.
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
Work Hard and Study Hard said:
Mrs.Greg said:
Tommy said:
MG....If these cattle are coming in without tags and paper work it seems to me its a problam at the US border. Is that the way you guys see it too?

How can that be? You tell us that all of your cattle have to be ID'ed. That it is mandatory. So how do they leave the sale barn or ranch without proper ID's?
Tommy,our cattle cannot leave our place to be sold without tags...period :!: If these cattle are not tagged that Canadas problam.....if they're crossing your border without tags and paperwork...that YOUR problam,its your border patrol that allowing untagged animals to CROSS the border.Get it?Now do you agree its your problam?

I totally agree, we need no stop all Canadian cattle from crossing the border indefinately until we get this problem corrected.
Good to see one of you guys agree theres a problam with YOUR bordercrossings :D ....kind of unlike you to agree with anything :shock:
 

Work Hard and Study Hard

Well-known member
Kato said:
But has your market really been ruined? :shock: I thought you guys had some pretty good prices over the past three years. Your market still seems to have some relevance to the cattle cycle. Unlike ours.

To put it into perspective, exports for your country are more of an icing on the cake, with the vast majority of your beef going into domestic markets.

For us, the export market is/was our main market. Canada has roughly the population of California. It is the second largest country in the world, with a lot of land most suited to livestock production. We need export markets to make use of the food we grow. We also need export markets for the energy we produce, and don't hear any complaining about that going south. We are an exporting nation. We are also Americas biggest trading partner, and buy an extraordinary amount of American goods.

Our cattle markets were traditionally set by your prices with the exchange rate factored in. You can ask any Canadian farmer at any time what the dollar is worth, and you will get an answer. Before the border closed, we locked in cattle using the same futures contracts you do. Our papers reported your futures prices along with our market reports, along with all your number on feed and outlooks. Our auction mart has a DTN machine in the lobby reporting your futures still.

Our two markets were very integrated, but most American cattlemen weren't nearly as aware of it as we were. We just weren't a big deal to you, since whatever we did would not really affect you nearly the way your markets would affect us.

The loss of the American market to us is more like it would be for you to lose three quarters of your own domestic market in terms of damage to individuals.

This is why we're cranky.

So if Brazil depends on cattle prices due to 75% export markets and they have FMD and BSE should be import their cattle at a risk to our own markets just cause they are going through a "tough time"? I sell cattle, I am not in the business of helping other countries out at my own expense. There might be a bigger picture but their really isn't one at the producer level.
 
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