A
Anonymous
Guest
Today 7/17/2006 3:35:00 PM
US May Revise Cattle Import Rule On New Canada BSE Case
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S., now in the later stages of lifting its ban on Canadian cattle that are over 30 months of age, may have to make changes to the proposed rule in response to Canada's most recent mad-cow case, according to U.S. government and industry officials.
Andrea Morgan, a veterinarian and associate deputy administrator at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said a draft of the U.S. rule on older Canadian cattle has been finished, but may need to be revised.
At the heart of USDA's concern is the age of the latest infected Canadian cow confirmed to be positive for the disease last week. It was just 50 months old, born more than four years after Canada implemented cattle feed restrictions that were supposed to the spread of mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
The USDA sent one of its epidemiologists to Canada over the weekend to follow the country's investigation into its seventh native-born case of BSE. That is something USDA did not do after Canada reported its sixth case earlier this month, but that infected cow was 15 years old - born well before Canada began its feed ban in 1997.
USDA officials are primarily interested to see whether the latest Canadian BSE case represents a widespread problem with the country's feed ban, the domestic restrictions designed to eradicate the cattle disease.
There may be good reason for concern, said U.S.-based National Cattlemen's Beef Association Director of Regulatory Affairs Gary Weber.
The effect on U.S.-Canadian cattle trade, Weber said, may be the cut-off point for cattle birth dates that the USDA writes into its rule to allow in the older animals. Canada, he said, now considers 1999 to be the year that all ranchers there became fully compliant with the feed ban. USDA may be forced to bump that date up, he said.
Chuck Kiker, president of another cattle producer group, R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America, called on the USDA to "indefinitely postpone" its plans to lift its ban on older Canadian cattle. Allowing those cattle across the border, Kiker said in a letter to USDA Secretary Mike Johanns, will only serve in scaring away foreign importers that buy, or are considering buying, beef from the U.S.
Kiker cited a concern voiced recently by South Korea that imported Canadian beef could be mixed in with U.S. origin product.
South Korea and the U.S. remain in prolonged negotiations over resuming beef trade. The country banned U.S. beef in December 2003 after the U.S. discovered its first BSE case in a cow that was later shown to be of Canadian origin.
"With another case of BSE in an animal born after Canada's feed ban ... now is not the time to further weaken our import standards ... " Kiker said in his letter to Johanns, dated July 17.
While Canada's seventh BSE case, the latest is the fourth found in a cow born after the country's feed ban was imposed. Two previous cases were born about three years after Canada began its feed ban and another less than a year.
The Canadian feed ban, similar to the one in the U.S., prohibits the use of bovine material in cattle feed because infected feed is believed to be the primary means of spreading the disease among animals.
The U.S. banned all Canadian beef and cattle in May 2003 after Canada's first domestic case of BSE was found. The USDA eased that ban a few months later on some beef and, in July 2005, began allowing in younger cattle.
The USDA rule allowing in older cattle has taken longer because older cattle are believed to be at higher risk for BSE.
USDA's Morgan said a draft of the proposal has been finished and was in "the clearance process" when Canada reported its latest BSE case last week.
Part of the reason the USDA is eager to allow in the older Canadian cattle is that there are many cow-slaughter operations - plants that specialize in processing older beef and dairy cattle - in the U.S. that need the imports.
In 2003, about 250,000 head of older cows slaughtered in the U.S. came from Canada before the U.S. border was shut, according to data provided by the American Meat Institute Foundation.
Source: Bill Tomson; Dow Jones Newswires; 202-646-0088;
US May Revise Cattle Import Rule On New Canada BSE Case
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S., now in the later stages of lifting its ban on Canadian cattle that are over 30 months of age, may have to make changes to the proposed rule in response to Canada's most recent mad-cow case, according to U.S. government and industry officials.
Andrea Morgan, a veterinarian and associate deputy administrator at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said a draft of the U.S. rule on older Canadian cattle has been finished, but may need to be revised.
At the heart of USDA's concern is the age of the latest infected Canadian cow confirmed to be positive for the disease last week. It was just 50 months old, born more than four years after Canada implemented cattle feed restrictions that were supposed to the spread of mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
The USDA sent one of its epidemiologists to Canada over the weekend to follow the country's investigation into its seventh native-born case of BSE. That is something USDA did not do after Canada reported its sixth case earlier this month, but that infected cow was 15 years old - born well before Canada began its feed ban in 1997.
USDA officials are primarily interested to see whether the latest Canadian BSE case represents a widespread problem with the country's feed ban, the domestic restrictions designed to eradicate the cattle disease.
There may be good reason for concern, said U.S.-based National Cattlemen's Beef Association Director of Regulatory Affairs Gary Weber.
The effect on U.S.-Canadian cattle trade, Weber said, may be the cut-off point for cattle birth dates that the USDA writes into its rule to allow in the older animals. Canada, he said, now considers 1999 to be the year that all ranchers there became fully compliant with the feed ban. USDA may be forced to bump that date up, he said.
Chuck Kiker, president of another cattle producer group, R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America, called on the USDA to "indefinitely postpone" its plans to lift its ban on older Canadian cattle. Allowing those cattle across the border, Kiker said in a letter to USDA Secretary Mike Johanns, will only serve in scaring away foreign importers that buy, or are considering buying, beef from the U.S.
Kiker cited a concern voiced recently by South Korea that imported Canadian beef could be mixed in with U.S. origin product.
South Korea and the U.S. remain in prolonged negotiations over resuming beef trade. The country banned U.S. beef in December 2003 after the U.S. discovered its first BSE case in a cow that was later shown to be of Canadian origin.
"With another case of BSE in an animal born after Canada's feed ban ... now is not the time to further weaken our import standards ... " Kiker said in his letter to Johanns, dated July 17.
While Canada's seventh BSE case, the latest is the fourth found in a cow born after the country's feed ban was imposed. Two previous cases were born about three years after Canada began its feed ban and another less than a year.
The Canadian feed ban, similar to the one in the U.S., prohibits the use of bovine material in cattle feed because infected feed is believed to be the primary means of spreading the disease among animals.
The U.S. banned all Canadian beef and cattle in May 2003 after Canada's first domestic case of BSE was found. The USDA eased that ban a few months later on some beef and, in July 2005, began allowing in younger cattle.
The USDA rule allowing in older cattle has taken longer because older cattle are believed to be at higher risk for BSE.
USDA's Morgan said a draft of the proposal has been finished and was in "the clearance process" when Canada reported its latest BSE case last week.
Part of the reason the USDA is eager to allow in the older Canadian cattle is that there are many cow-slaughter operations - plants that specialize in processing older beef and dairy cattle - in the U.S. that need the imports.
In 2003, about 250,000 head of older cows slaughtered in the U.S. came from Canada before the U.S. border was shut, according to data provided by the American Meat Institute Foundation.
Source: Bill Tomson; Dow Jones Newswires; 202-646-0088;