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U.S. agriculture secretary supports restoring full cattle trade with Canada
ST. PAUL, Minn, Jun 09, 2005 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) -- The North American beef supply is safe, and full cattle trade with Canada should be restored, said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns at a round-table discussion here Thursday.
Johanns told the audience at the University of Minnesota that the United States Department of Agriculture's increased screening program had tested 375,000 high-risk American cattle in the past year and found no cases of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
"We believe very strongly that the North American beef supply is safe," Johanns said. "This forum is very important just in terms of getting people in the room."
The forum brought together representatives of the U.S. cattle industry. No Canadian government officials were on the panel.
Johanns said reopening the border was vital for the domestic cattle business. He said beef prices in the United States have risen too high since May 2003, when the border was closed after Canada's first case of mad cow disease.
If beef supplies don't increase and drive down prices, "American consumers will start choosing other sources of protein," he told reporters after the meeting.
The USDA had plans to reopen the Canadian border to cattle shipments in March, but they were stymied when a federal judge in Montana ruled the border must remain closed while a lawsuit brought by a group of ranchers goes through the legal system. The USDA has appealed.
Some critics lacked Johanns' faith in the current system of testing, which primarily checks animals that appear sick. Because mad cow has a long incubation period, infected cattle without symptoms could get into the food supply, they say.
"The USDA risk-mitigation factors are inadequate and deficient" compared to the rest of the world, said Bill Bullard, a round-table panelist and CEO of Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America.
He said the Canadian government also needed to improve testing for mad cow disease.
Humans who eat meat contaminated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy can contract a fatal brain disorder called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Last August, Canadian Cattlemen for Fair Trade, a lobby group representing cattle farmers, filed a $150 million Cdn lawsuit against the U.S. government citing a clause in the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The cattle ban has had a devastating effect on the Canadian cattle industry, costing farmers an estimated $7 billion in export revenue.
ST. PAUL, Minn, Jun 09, 2005 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) -- The North American beef supply is safe, and full cattle trade with Canada should be restored, said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns at a round-table discussion here Thursday.
Johanns told the audience at the University of Minnesota that the United States Department of Agriculture's increased screening program had tested 375,000 high-risk American cattle in the past year and found no cases of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
"We believe very strongly that the North American beef supply is safe," Johanns said. "This forum is very important just in terms of getting people in the room."
The forum brought together representatives of the U.S. cattle industry. No Canadian government officials were on the panel.
Johanns said reopening the border was vital for the domestic cattle business. He said beef prices in the United States have risen too high since May 2003, when the border was closed after Canada's first case of mad cow disease.
If beef supplies don't increase and drive down prices, "American consumers will start choosing other sources of protein," he told reporters after the meeting.
The USDA had plans to reopen the Canadian border to cattle shipments in March, but they were stymied when a federal judge in Montana ruled the border must remain closed while a lawsuit brought by a group of ranchers goes through the legal system. The USDA has appealed.
Some critics lacked Johanns' faith in the current system of testing, which primarily checks animals that appear sick. Because mad cow has a long incubation period, infected cattle without symptoms could get into the food supply, they say.
"The USDA risk-mitigation factors are inadequate and deficient" compared to the rest of the world, said Bill Bullard, a round-table panelist and CEO of Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America.
He said the Canadian government also needed to improve testing for mad cow disease.
Humans who eat meat contaminated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy can contract a fatal brain disorder called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Last August, Canadian Cattlemen for Fair Trade, a lobby group representing cattle farmers, filed a $150 million Cdn lawsuit against the U.S. government citing a clause in the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The cattle ban has had a devastating effect on the Canadian cattle industry, costing farmers an estimated $7 billion in export revenue.