South Korea Moves Closer To Allowing Beef From Canada.

[cpallett]

The Feds finally brought in a ruminant feed ban in August 1997 (effective October 1997). The problem is that this feed ban was based on the British July, 1988 model, before the Brits realized the problems associated with cross-contamination affecting feed manufacturing lines and assorted equipment.

The Brit feed ban that finally addressed these problems (and the issue of cross-feeding) which has resulted in the very near eradication of BSE in Britain was enacted in Britain in March of 1996. So why was our 1997 feed ban based on the older, unsuccessful 1988 model when the British experience had taught that it did not work?

In July 2007 the Feds finally enacted a feed ban based on the British 1996 model. I am not aware that any serious efforts were made before that time to ensure that cross-contamination and cross-feeding possibilities were addressed.

Yes, we have included these issues in our allegations of negligence.

[rkaiser]

Hay there little doggie. Have you ever been to St Paul Alberta. The plant in question that belonged to Feed Rite disappeared in to thin air very shorty after they were named in the law suit. They bailed and put about 6 million into the kitty to have their name removed from the suit.

Yer right Iain, it is not the fault of the average taxpayer, but government employees screwed up and even if we were to simply find the few that screwed up and ask them to pay you and me and the rest of the producers of this country back for their errors and our losses, we could only afford an ice cream cone each --- maybe...

[burnt]

Perhaps what galls me the worst is that some seem willing to give a free pass to those government "food safety" employees who didn't do their job!

Do you not realize that by removing any accountability you are implicitly asking them to screw up again? Maybe even worse next time?

So while their laxity caused a big sector of agriculture a lot of money, think of how much worse it would be if their next screw-up cost a lot of lives!

Would those same pollyannas still say "oh what the heck, everybody makes mistakes" if it was their wife/child/parent that paid the ultimate cost for government negligence?

Talk about whistling through the graveyard!

There is only one way to drive home the message of accountability - we are doing it - and for that reason, I think that names should be named and consequences be applied accordingly and judiciously.

[cpallett]

Brother burnt,

Perhaps what galls me the most is that many husbands and fathers DID pay the ultimate price for the negligence of paid public officials. In order to keep the farms that had been in their families for generations a number of producers took their own lives so that their farms and families could benefit from the insurance proceeds. Not funny. Not funny at all.

To now give those responsible a free pass on the basis that the poor taxpayers will have to foot the bill at the end of the day is not in me. Too many forget that the negligence of the few has already cost us poor taxpayers billions in lost tax revenue, not to mention the irreperable harm to the infrastructure of cattle production in this country.

Not to mention the increadible stress, lost investments, lost hopes, lost dreams, lost opportunities for education, advancement, happy retirement, etc. destroyed by the BSE crisis. Not in me to let the immense suffering created by the negligence of a few self-important incompetents pass uncompensated. Not in me at all.

[grassfarmer]

The way I see it at the end of the day there are no
absolutes - there are no rights and wrongs only
opinions. Our society is build on our Government
and judiciary "being right" and being the authority
but as far as I can see judges are just forming
opinions based on the evidence presented to them.
Government officials form opinions on issues and
take actions accordingly.
I don't see Government as "them" Government is
"us", the people, they were elected by us and
represent us and they are mere mortals like the rest
of us and do make mistakes.
I'm more of a forward looking person than a
backward looking one - I'm more interested in what
we can do to prevent future problems. I see nobody
addressed my concern about a future FMD outbreak
and what action the Government is taking to try and
prevent that and how that action is being met by
producer and producer organization opposition.
Anyone care to comment on that?

[rkaiser]

We elected them -- come on GF these people were employees.

As for the future. Carma - the idea that current choices will affect the future not the old thought of penance for past. Check with the Dali Lama - I got this new view from him . LOL

The current event is a lawsuit to cause employees to be responsible for future events like your FMD fear.

[burnt]

Randolf said - "The current event is a lawsuit to cause employees to be responsible for future events like your FMD fear."

Now, how can anyone who claims to be "forward-looking" not understand this?

Why not just take a laissez faire or que sera sera approach and do away with regulation if it is so unimportant?

Randy, how's the Mandarin I threw in there? ;-)

cpallett, how about throwing up a link to that study that you and kato sent to me. It helps shed a little more light on the matter of heading troubles off at the pass.

[grassfarmer]

Doesn't answer my question burnt.Threatening to
sue retrospectively doesn't prevent future problems.
In any case I think with this FMD/traceability issue
the Government would have a "get out of jail" card
because of the actions the cattle groups are taking
just now fighting attempts to introduce a tracking
system. Still, maybe you could then retrospectively
sue the producer groups a decade or so after the
event. Good business for the lawyers. Meanwhile in
the real world....

[burnt]

You know, GF, some guys like taking their money from a marketplace that rewards responsible business risks rather than profiteering on the losses of those who failed due to poor government policy/ enforcement.

But each to his own.

[cpallett]

To quote Winston Churchill paraphrasing George Santayana:

"Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

If the BSE crisis teaches us anything, it is that traceability is pointless without a comprehensive, intelligent, well-rehearsed and well communicated action plan in place. It has been said that there are no atheists in foxholes, but it is equally true that rhetoric and postering aren't worth a pinch of coon @#$% when trouble strikes.

The Feds documented in 1990 the location of every single one of the 196 bovines imported into Canada from Great Britain between 1982 and 1990. Traceability? They were all catalogued and carded. There was no action plan in place to ensure that their renderd remains did not wind up in Canadian cattle feed (which of course they did).

Federal veterinarians were provided with no information whatsoever from Ottawa on BSE until October 1992. None of the owners of the British imports were provided with any information by Ottawa until the first case of BSE in December 1993, and precious little then.

There was no action plan in place. The mantra of Agriculture Canada (taken from a 1991 position paper) reads:

"....all involved sectors support the position that:
1) BSE does not exist in Canada
2) BSE will not enter Canada
3) BSE will not develop in Canada"

Talk about see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Apparently if you say it loud enough that means evil does not exist.

Unfortunately this policy was based on a unique premise:

"Studies describe the present situation in the United Kingdom as an 'extended common-source epidemic'. Each confirmed case has been a primary case due to exposure to a single common source rather than transmission of the disease from another infected bovine."

Not true. An 'extended common-source epidemic' is an epidemic that starts from a single source and is spread further by transmission of the disease by infected animals to healthy animals. Ooops. Helps when you know what the technical terms actuially mean, don't you think? Might have helped contain BSE if our 'professionals' had realized that infected cattle can indeed transmit BSE. The rest of the entire world had that one right.

So Iain, the bottom line to this long story is that traceability won';t mean a thing in the case of a FMD outbreak if the CFIA and the various provincial authorities do not have a clear, comprehensive, coordinated and intelligent action plan in place.

History teaches us that they got it woefully wrong with BSE, so while I applaud your energy and your views in general, it might be wise to ask the CFIA and the provinces exactly what they have in mind should FMD appear, and broadcast that information to all and sundry.

BSE takes an average of five years to go from infected to dead, and can only be spread through infected MBM incorporated into feed rations. FMD, as you well know, is considerably more volatile. If the Feds manged to screw up BSE, where they had literally years to react appropriately to prevent disaster, shouldn't you be concerned about their plans for FMD?

Couldn't hurt to find out out who is in charge of FMD at CFIA and send them the best textbook on the subject you can find. They just might read it, and it just might be the best dollars you ever spent.

All the best.

[ASRG]

grassfarmer: Like I said before you seem to have a very forgiving nature....which is probably a good thing!
However, like Cam said, BSE was a complete disaster for some people, and I think it deeply affected a lot of people. I never went out and shot myself.....but I know it sure made me take a whole different approach to life. Maybe I was naive and needed a wake up call.....but I never thought my government would try to screw me like that!
That distrust of government continues to this day and that includes the dick head from Calgary who is our prime minister.

[kato]

What has BSE cost us?

On our farm, it cost us the plan for our one of our sons to take over the farm. It cost us ten years of progress, and changed our vision of retirement significantly.

In our neighbourhood, it cost us a feed mill, a feedlot, and more cow herds than I can count.

In our province, it cost us a large number of producers due to financial stress, it cost us a local PFRA pasture, it cost us a number of truckers, and the damage hasn't stopped yet. As the cattle numbers drop, the auction marts may be in trouble next.

And most tragically of all, for one family in our area, it cost them their father, because he was one of those who decided to end it all.

Forgive and forget?

Nope. Not going to happen.

[littledoggie]

BSE taught governments that they need to cover their beaurocratic butts with protective measures. The Alberta Animal Health Act comes to mind. Perhaps the Alberta Land Stewardship Act has some implications when it comes to animal disease. The Feds right now are "educating" our industry on BIOSECURITY measures for on farm. You know what comes after the "education". This all sets the stage for downloading responsibility of FMD or any other reportable disease to industry and individuals alike. I just hope the Feds take responsibility for preventing it from coming INTO the country. (Statutory declaration at point of entry is not good enough).

Just the way I see it.

[wilagro]

With Foot and Mouth disease breaking out again in Paraguay...there had better be super vigilance on the part of the CFIA and the USA ports of entry as well. That would be another disaster if this got a hold after what we in Canada already experienced with BSE.

All these "Free Trade Agreements" with South American countries give me cause to distrust politicians for I fear they know so little about how their actions affect us here or have the potential for economic ruin.

Hoof and Mouth has been around in different SA countries for eons and is endemic although vaccination "masks" the problem for a while.

[kato]

IMHO, the day it hits the U.S., the rules will suddenly change, and it won't be a bid deal any more. Call it a hunch.