OldDog/NewTricks
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Today 7/12/2005 7:23:00 AM
R-CALF Cattle Update: USDA and HHS Urged to Strengthen BSE Protections
(Billings, Mont.) – R-CALF USA today sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt urging the agency leaders to immediately strengthen U.S. protection measures against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
The letter stated if USDA, HHS, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are correct that the most likely routes of introducing BSE into the United States are through the importation of infected live cattle already incubating the disease that are then rendered into feed and mistakenly fed to cattle, or, the importation of contaminated meat-and-bone meal (MBM), then the discovery of BSE in a 12-year-old domestic cow demonstrates the basic BSE protection measures adopted by the United States more than 15 years ago failed to prevent BSE, a foreign animal disease, from entering the domestic cattle herd.
"Present evidence proves that our import restrictions – our first line of defense against BSE – were, and may continue to be, inadequate," wrote R-CALF USA President Leo McDonnell.
McDonnell noted that U.S. cattle producers already have suffered more than $3 billion in lost export markets as a result of finding a Canadian-origin cow with BSE within the borders of the United States in 2003. McDonnell also wrote that U.S. cattle producers have additionally incurred significant economic costs in attempting to protect the domestic cattle herd and U.S. food supply from BSE, and the industry is now prepared to accept even more costs to do even more.
"There will never be a better time to decisively and effectively contain this disease than right now," he wrote.
The letter stated the following five improvements to the United States' current BSE protection measures "are critically important in safeguarding our nation's cattle and the U.S. food supply:"
1. Prohibit the importation of ruminants and ruminant products from any country with BSE, or from any country that has inadequate import restrictions to ensure BSE is not introduced into those herds; or countries that do not conduct BSE surveillance testing at a level that would allow the detection of BSE at the rate of less than one case per million head of adult cattle, and also seek upward harmonization of standards and practices to a reasonable standard of safety to ensure the U.S. does not become a dumping ground for products banned in other countries.
2. Allow private firms to voluntarily test cattle of any age for BSE to meet international and domestic demand as well as expand the BSE testing program for the identification of BSE, and the elimination of any animals so infected from the food supply, and to accurately monitor any evolution of the disease.
3. Track, identify, and test all cattle previously imported into the national herd; permanently mark all imported cattle entering the national herd; and implement country-of-origin labeling so consumers can choose to purchase beef and beef products from the country or countries of their choice.
4. Strengthen the feed ban to exclude all animal protein and animal by-products from all livestock and poultry feed, including blood, poultry litter, plate waste, tallow, and Specified Risk Materials (SRMs); and, ban the use of ruminant blood meal, bone meal, and ruminant tallow in milk replacer and colostrums.
5. Prohibit Automated Meat Recovery (AMR) systems on cattle over 12 months of age.
The letter also states the discovery of a domestic case means the United States must now pursue a two-part goal: " . . . prevent any further introduction of BSE into the United States and ensure that any BSE found in the United States is fully contained and eliminated from the food chain."
In addition to making specific recommendations for strengthening BSE protections, the letter cautioned the agency leaders from attempting to represent an animal identification system as a BSE protection measure while simultaneously refusing to test anything except cattle considered a high-risk for BSE. This action, R-CALF USA's letter stated, "is creating a false sense of security. Having the ability to track a disease without simultaneously utilizing existing technologies (BSE testing) to identify all possible BSE cases is of little value to an effective BSE prevention program."
R-CALF USA also expressed concern that Canada's BSE risk is inherently greater than that of the United States. Included among the many factors listed by R-CALF USA to demonstrate Canada's heightened risk for BSE are that current testing data show Canada's BSE prevalence is higher; Canada is known to have a cluster of BSE cases located in a single province (Alberta); Canada had a BSE-positive animal born after implementation of its feed ban; and, Canada lagged well behind the United States in implementing its basic BSE monitoring and protection measures, including its import restrictions imposed on countries where BSE was known to exist.
R-CALF USA urged the Secretaries to act decisively to implement the five recommended improvements to current BSE protections in the United States.
When the Secretaries take these actions, those efforts "will demonstrate to U.S. export customers and U.S. consumers alike that their safety is of paramount importance to the U.S. cattle industry . . . (and) . . . will help maintain the highest level of consumer confidence in the safety of U.S. beef, regardless of future BSE-related events, here or abroad," wrote McDonnell.
Note: To view R-CALF USA's letter to USDA and HHS in its entirety, log on to:
www.r-calfusa.com and click "BSE-Litigation."
R-CALF Cattle Update: USDA and HHS Urged to Strengthen BSE Protections
(Billings, Mont.) – R-CALF USA today sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt urging the agency leaders to immediately strengthen U.S. protection measures against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
The letter stated if USDA, HHS, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are correct that the most likely routes of introducing BSE into the United States are through the importation of infected live cattle already incubating the disease that are then rendered into feed and mistakenly fed to cattle, or, the importation of contaminated meat-and-bone meal (MBM), then the discovery of BSE in a 12-year-old domestic cow demonstrates the basic BSE protection measures adopted by the United States more than 15 years ago failed to prevent BSE, a foreign animal disease, from entering the domestic cattle herd.
"Present evidence proves that our import restrictions – our first line of defense against BSE – were, and may continue to be, inadequate," wrote R-CALF USA President Leo McDonnell.
McDonnell noted that U.S. cattle producers already have suffered more than $3 billion in lost export markets as a result of finding a Canadian-origin cow with BSE within the borders of the United States in 2003. McDonnell also wrote that U.S. cattle producers have additionally incurred significant economic costs in attempting to protect the domestic cattle herd and U.S. food supply from BSE, and the industry is now prepared to accept even more costs to do even more.
"There will never be a better time to decisively and effectively contain this disease than right now," he wrote.
The letter stated the following five improvements to the United States' current BSE protection measures "are critically important in safeguarding our nation's cattle and the U.S. food supply:"
1. Prohibit the importation of ruminants and ruminant products from any country with BSE, or from any country that has inadequate import restrictions to ensure BSE is not introduced into those herds; or countries that do not conduct BSE surveillance testing at a level that would allow the detection of BSE at the rate of less than one case per million head of adult cattle, and also seek upward harmonization of standards and practices to a reasonable standard of safety to ensure the U.S. does not become a dumping ground for products banned in other countries.
2. Allow private firms to voluntarily test cattle of any age for BSE to meet international and domestic demand as well as expand the BSE testing program for the identification of BSE, and the elimination of any animals so infected from the food supply, and to accurately monitor any evolution of the disease.
3. Track, identify, and test all cattle previously imported into the national herd; permanently mark all imported cattle entering the national herd; and implement country-of-origin labeling so consumers can choose to purchase beef and beef products from the country or countries of their choice.
4. Strengthen the feed ban to exclude all animal protein and animal by-products from all livestock and poultry feed, including blood, poultry litter, plate waste, tallow, and Specified Risk Materials (SRMs); and, ban the use of ruminant blood meal, bone meal, and ruminant tallow in milk replacer and colostrums.
5. Prohibit Automated Meat Recovery (AMR) systems on cattle over 12 months of age.
The letter also states the discovery of a domestic case means the United States must now pursue a two-part goal: " . . . prevent any further introduction of BSE into the United States and ensure that any BSE found in the United States is fully contained and eliminated from the food chain."
In addition to making specific recommendations for strengthening BSE protections, the letter cautioned the agency leaders from attempting to represent an animal identification system as a BSE protection measure while simultaneously refusing to test anything except cattle considered a high-risk for BSE. This action, R-CALF USA's letter stated, "is creating a false sense of security. Having the ability to track a disease without simultaneously utilizing existing technologies (BSE testing) to identify all possible BSE cases is of little value to an effective BSE prevention program."
R-CALF USA also expressed concern that Canada's BSE risk is inherently greater than that of the United States. Included among the many factors listed by R-CALF USA to demonstrate Canada's heightened risk for BSE are that current testing data show Canada's BSE prevalence is higher; Canada is known to have a cluster of BSE cases located in a single province (Alberta); Canada had a BSE-positive animal born after implementation of its feed ban; and, Canada lagged well behind the United States in implementing its basic BSE monitoring and protection measures, including its import restrictions imposed on countries where BSE was known to exist.
R-CALF USA urged the Secretaries to act decisively to implement the five recommended improvements to current BSE protections in the United States.
When the Secretaries take these actions, those efforts "will demonstrate to U.S. export customers and U.S. consumers alike that their safety is of paramount importance to the U.S. cattle industry . . . (and) . . . will help maintain the highest level of consumer confidence in the safety of U.S. beef, regardless of future BSE-related events, here or abroad," wrote McDonnell.
Note: To view R-CALF USA's letter to USDA and HHS in its entirety, log on to:
www.r-calfusa.com and click "BSE-Litigation."
