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sueing the bone chip processors

Brad S

Well-known member
First, when I hear a small packer in NY, that hasn't been a player in the Japanese trade, ships beef to Japan with bone fragments that Japan finds a convenient excuse to end trade, I get suspicous. It seems as likely that Japan paid the processor to include bone as a small processor jumps into the Japanese market and accidentally destroys access. Who knows? Who cares? Fact is, one packer's tort is costing the US cow biz money. The next to last thing I'd support is reducing packer competition, but the last thing I'd support is letting the sloth of a minor player cost the industry money.

I guess I can't understand why the NCBA or RCALF for that matter hasn't publicly criticized the offending packer, and somone somewhere might consider a real class action lawsuit.
 

Murgen

Well-known member
Brad brings up a good point. Who is liable for infractions.

If a producer is found to be feeding pre-feedban feed, is he liable?

While a recall by the feed manufacturer would have been the responsible thing to do, it was not legislated, so they aren't liable.

Are feed manufacturer's being fined, or shut down in the US for infractions at present? Founder?

thanks
 

mrj

Well-known member
Brad S said:
First, when I hear a small packer in NY, that hasn't been a player in the Japanese trade, ships beef to Japan with bone fragments that Japan finds a convenient excuse to end trade, I get suspicous. It seems as likely that Japan paid the processor to include bone as a small processor jumps into the Japanese market and accidentally destroys access. Who knows? Who cares? Fact is, one packer's tort is costing the US cow biz money. The next to last thing I'd support is reducing packer competition, but the last thing I'd support is letting the sloth of a minor player cost the industry money.

I guess I can't understand why the NCBA or RCALF for that matter hasn't publicly criticized the offending packer, and somone somewhere might consider a real class action lawsuit.

Brad, wasn't the NY veal processing plant the one that included cuts of veal with bones intact on the express order of the customer in Japan? I felt that might have been a set up deal and got chastised for saying so.
Didn't the bone chips, extremely small ones according to what I read, show up in beef from a plant in the mid-west? I'm not so sure of the latter, but very sure of the NY deal. And I read in that one that the seller and the plant had not done export to Japan previously, also that the seller believed since the product was ordered with bone in and was very young, that it was legal. Talk about needing to read the fine print!

I'm not sure how much a law suit helps anything, but rules, laws, or regulations need to have teeth and consequences for failure to comply. In this case, it seems anything commensurate with the damage done surely would put a small packer out of business and we can't have that, can we?

MRJ
 

Brad S

Well-known member
Murgen, I'd guess that anyone knowingly feeding banned feed - that leads to a madcow is out of business and broke. ought to be that way if it ain't.
Now these latest bse cows that may have contracted after the feed ban were accidents, but its still common to pay for accidents. The antitraceback guys have a valid point in liability.


MRJ, at the risk of being a complete biggot, the Japanese are perhaps the keenest, shrewdest, sneakiest, most nationalistic traders on the planet. I know nothing about the Japanese asking for the bone, but if they did, you certainly weren't off in left field wondering about a trick. When their only response is embargo instead of working out minor mistakes, yes they look duplicitous. If the US were to find a loose bolt on an import Nissan and declare all japanese cars unsafe it would be barely veiled protectionism. I'd go just a bit further and suspect the Japanese are accepting Canadian beef and banning US beef to increase tensions between the US and Canada.
 
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