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DJ US Senators Try To Block Expansion Of Canada Cattle Trade
12:23 PM, October 4, 2007
By Bill Tomson
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Agriculture Online
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Eight U.S. senators have sponsored legislation to try
to bar the U.S. Department of Agriculture from lifting its ban on Canadian
cattle 30 months of age or older as well as meat from those cattle.
Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., John Enzi, R-Wyo., Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Tim
Johnson, D-S.D., John Thune, R-S.D., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, John Tester,
D-Mont., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., introduced the bill - called a resolution
of disapproval - in the Senate Wednesday.
Dorgan, in a prepared statement released Thursday, said he does not believe
Canada can effectively keep out of the U.S. cattle infected with bovine
spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease.
"The Bush Administration based its decision to allow these imports to resume
on overly optimistic assumptions regarding the scope of Canada's mad-cow
problem and the effectiveness of Canada's efforts to control, prevent and
eradicate it," Dorgan said.
On Sept. 14 the U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled its plan to allow
older Canadian cattle across the border, but imports aren't scheduled to resume
until Nov. 19.
The U.S. has banned the older, or "cull cattle," since Canada reported its
first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in May
2003.
The U.S. lifted its ban on cattle younger than 30 months, which are the bulk
of Canadian exports, in July 2005 because those younger cattle are believed to
be far less likely to be infected with BSE.
USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford, during a Sept. 14 press
conference, told reporters even if a BSE-infected animal were imported "a
series of multiple safeguards" in the U.S. would prevent the spread of the
neurological disease.
Humans can contract BSE through contamination of the food supply.
The USDA has predicted 75,000 head of the older cattle - usually too decrepit
to produce milk anymore - would be sent to the U.S. for slaughter in 2008 once
the ban is lifted. That amount, USDA said, would rise to 161,000 head per year
by 2012.
Dorgan's resolution of disapproval may get "expedited consideration" in the
Senate if 30 senators sign on, according to the statement released by Dorgan's
office. "If the resolution is enacted, it would prevent the ... USDA from
implementing its plan to ease age restrictions on imported Canadian cattle and
beef."
-By Bill Tomson, Dow Jones Newswires
agriculture.com
12:23 PM, October 4, 2007
By Bill Tomson
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Agriculture Online
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Eight U.S. senators have sponsored legislation to try
to bar the U.S. Department of Agriculture from lifting its ban on Canadian
cattle 30 months of age or older as well as meat from those cattle.
Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., John Enzi, R-Wyo., Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Tim
Johnson, D-S.D., John Thune, R-S.D., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, John Tester,
D-Mont., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., introduced the bill - called a resolution
of disapproval - in the Senate Wednesday.
Dorgan, in a prepared statement released Thursday, said he does not believe
Canada can effectively keep out of the U.S. cattle infected with bovine
spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease.
"The Bush Administration based its decision to allow these imports to resume
on overly optimistic assumptions regarding the scope of Canada's mad-cow
problem and the effectiveness of Canada's efforts to control, prevent and
eradicate it," Dorgan said.
On Sept. 14 the U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled its plan to allow
older Canadian cattle across the border, but imports aren't scheduled to resume
until Nov. 19.
The U.S. has banned the older, or "cull cattle," since Canada reported its
first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in May
2003.
The U.S. lifted its ban on cattle younger than 30 months, which are the bulk
of Canadian exports, in July 2005 because those younger cattle are believed to
be far less likely to be infected with BSE.
USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford, during a Sept. 14 press
conference, told reporters even if a BSE-infected animal were imported "a
series of multiple safeguards" in the U.S. would prevent the spread of the
neurological disease.
Humans can contract BSE through contamination of the food supply.
The USDA has predicted 75,000 head of the older cattle - usually too decrepit
to produce milk anymore - would be sent to the U.S. for slaughter in 2008 once
the ban is lifted. That amount, USDA said, would rise to 161,000 head per year
by 2012.
Dorgan's resolution of disapproval may get "expedited consideration" in the
Senate if 30 senators sign on, according to the statement released by Dorgan's
office. "If the resolution is enacted, it would prevent the ... USDA from
implementing its plan to ease age restrictions on imported Canadian cattle and
beef."
-By Bill Tomson, Dow Jones Newswires
agriculture.com
