OIE leads the way

[Bill]

Judge Cebull better rewrite part of his report he has ready for July 27th. World standards have just changed.

BEEF NEWS
OIE alters BSE standards

by Pete Hisey on 5/27/2005 for Meatingplace.com




In its annual meeting held this week, the World Organization for Animal Health (known under its French initials, OIE) has made changes in its recommendations for trade status with countries of various risk categories concerning bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

The organization has streamlined the system for classifying risk levels in countries with BSE exposure, based on the steps they have taken to detect the threat and reduce risk of human transmission, and it has expanded the list of non-risk products that can be safely traded among all countries, no matter what their risk profile. The main such product is boneless whole muscle beef.

"I applaud the leadership of the World Organization for Animal Health in modernizing the international approach to the safe trade of beef products by updating the beef guidelines to reflect current science," said Mike Johanns, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

James Hodges, president of the American Meat Institute Foundation, noted that the new recommendations (OIE is not a standards-setting organization and has no enforcement powers) now would allow nearly unlimited trade of boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age, and more limited trade of beef from older animals if additional safety measures have been taken.

Had this revised standard existed in 2003, Hodges said, "the U.S. would not have lost its markets in the wake of a single case of BSE detected in December 2003 and trade with Canada would not have ceased in May 2003 and still be partially blocked two years later."

 

[Anonymous]

Poor R-CALF!

The OIE is taking away all of their leveage against Canada that these hypocrites wouldn't want used on them.


~SH~

 

[Sandhusker]

Poor R-CALF!

The OIE is taking away all of their leveage against Canada that these hypocrites wouldn't want used on them.


~SH~

It's already being used on us.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like the OIE guidelines are another WTO joke :?

---------------------------------------------------------------


Japan says beef policy unaffected by new BSE rule


TOKYO, May 27 (Reuters) - Japan's Agriculture Ministry said on Friday it would not modify conditions for easing a ban on U.S. beef, shrugging off new guidelines on beef trade and the risk of mad cow disease set by the world animal health body.

Japan plans to resume imports of beef from American cattle aged up to 20 months without requiring mad cow testing. Specified risk material (SRM), such as bovine heads and spinal cords, must be removed from all slaughtered cattle before shipment to Japan.

Japan imposed a ban on U.S. beef in December 2003 following the discovery of a case of mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), in Washington state.

Before the ban, Japan was the top importer of American beef, with imports valued at $1.4 billion in 2003.

U.S. lawmakers have expressed growing frustration with Japan's slowness in reopening its market, and some have proposed that Washington consider trade sanctions.

The Japanese requirements on U.S. beef are tighter than the new guidelines set on Thursday by the world animal health organisation OIE.

Under the new guidelines, countries are allowed to export deboned red meat from cattle under 30 months old regardless of each respective nation's mad cow status.

Apart from the under-30-month rule and deboning, animals will have to undergo ante- and post-mortem inspections and measures must be in place to ensure no contamination with other riskier animal parts.

OIE guidelines are non-binding on its 167 members, but are often used by the World Trade Organisation for settling cross-border trading disputes involving animal health issues.

Asked by reporters if the new guidelines would have an effect on the issue of U.S. beef import resumption, Agriculture Minister Yoshinobu Shimamura replied he did not expect anything special.

"We have already brought the case to the Food Safety Commission, who are going to discuss the issue from various points of view," Shimamura was quoted by a ministry official as saying at a news conference on Friday.

On Tuesday, the Japanese government asked the Food Safety Commission to approve a resumption of U.S. beef imports.

The commission will soon start reviewing U.S. safety measures against mad cow disease to determine if they meet Japanese standards, a process experts say could take several months.

The government cannot intervene directly in the decisions of the commission, an independent body of experts who conduct risk assessments of food scientifically and make policy recommendations to relevant ministries.

Japan plans to resume U.S. beef imports shortly after getting official approval from the commission.

The human form of mad cow, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), is fatal and believed to be caused by eating infected meat. About 150 cases have been reported around the world.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said on Thursday he hoped the new OIE guidelines would encourage other countries to reopen their market to U.S. beef imports.

"We look forward to working with other countries to amend regulations to reflect these guidelines, which will continue to promote our first objective of safeguarding animal and human health," Johanns said.

The USDA and meat producers have long maintained that appropriate testing measures and feed bans are in place to detect and prevent the spread of the disease.

 

[Sandhusker]

James Hodges, President AMI, "Had this revised standard existed in 2003, Hodges said, "the U.S. would not have lost its markets in the wake of a single case of BSE detected in December 2003 and trade with Canada would not have ceased in May 2003 and still be partially blocked two years later."


TOKYO, May 27 (Reuters) - Japan's Agriculture Ministry said on Friday it would not modify conditions for easing a ban on U.S. beef, shrugging off new guidelines on beef trade and the risk of mad cow disease set by the world animal health body.

Soooooo, is Hodges lying? :wink:

 

[Tam]

If the WTO uses the OIE rules to rule on trade disputes and the US took Japan to the WTO do you Sandhusker think the US would now have a case they could win or would Japan win. If Canada took the US to the WTO over boxed beef that R-CALF is now gunning for do you think the US would win or would Canada win since there should be not restrictions on box boneless meat from cattle under 30 months with the SRM removed.

And Oldtimer will the OIE guidelines still be a WTO joke if they are used to leverage the openning of the US exports and your cattle prices hit a new historical high.

 

[Anonymous]

And Oldtimer will the OIE guidelines still be a WTO joke if they are used to leverage the openning of the US exports and your cattle prices hit a new historical high.

The whole WTO is a joke as far as I'm concerned- following right on the footsteps of that farce known as the UN... The US should get out of both of them- we should not have foreign politicians and the worlds industrialists telling a sovereign nation what we can or cannot do or who or what we can trade...

 

[Murgen]

Actually we now know that USDA is well respresented in the OIE. I agree with you that it looks like it's about trade and economics, with the leadership coming from the dominant nations, not at all like health.

Japan's Agriculture Ministry said on Friday it would not modify conditions for easing a ban on U.S. beef, shrugging off new guidelines on beef trade and the risk of mad cow disease set by the world animal health body.

But isn't it nice Reader to know that there are still some that won't back down from the bullying done by some?