South Korea Moves Closer To Allowing Beef From Canada.

[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.

[grassfarmer]

Kato, the rules won't change for the US - they are
OIE rules implemented globally. It's not only south
America that has FMD - I get email notification of
outbreaks on a regular basis from China, Russia,
Korea, the fringes of the EU. The disease is
widespread but it's most likely avenue of entry into
Canada would be deliberate sabotage.
I can't believe everybody will sit here and point
fingers about BSE yet fail to even think about FMD.
Badmouthing CFIA or the Government and making
threatening noises that they had better protect us
from FMD while we as an industry have not even had
a discussion on FMD seems hypocritical to me.
Someone mentioned vaccination for FMD - yes,
there is one but no it doesn't mask the disease it
controls it. Vaccination has side effects - the main
one being some countries don't accept beef/cattle
that have been FMD vaccinated. Yet in the face of an
outbreak of FMD OIE rules prohibit export of
beef/cattle anyway. Meanwhile countries like the
Netherlands have vaccinated hogs for decades and
can still export their pork. To my knowledge there
hasn't been a discussion at an industry organization
level on any of this stuff and whether we adopt a
vaccination or cull policy in the case of an outbreak.
Don't you think that should be happening? or are
you happy just to head blindly along and try and sue
the Government retrospectively?

On the BSE score I guess I just look at it different
being closer to the epicentre of the disease in the
UK when it first occurred. It was a disease that came
out of nowhere and no-one could have anticipated
it ahead of the initial cases. On the financial front I
feel we suffered a lot more in the UK that we have
done in Canada. Personally we lost an export market
for native breed cattle to continental Europe as far
back as 1989 so I had 11 years of BSE experience
before any of you saw it in Canada. At the end of
the day it was a business problem - something to
be managed around if we are to continue with our
businesses. I've done that and intend to move on,
no point staying bitter and saying life ended the day
there was a case of BSE in Canada because it didn't.

[burnt]

Well gf, the difference is that in Canada it was NOT a "disease that came out of nowhere and no-one could have anticipated it ahead of the initial cases", in fact, quite the opposite and that is what the government of Canada, through the CFIA, had a "duty of care" to prevent!

Again, taking a pollyanna attitude like you do will not serve anyone's better interests.

It is unfortunate that some, like you, seem willing to give a failed bureaucracy a free pass for their costly ineptitude.

Yet you try to say that we are not concerned about a possible future outbreak when we are trying to drive home the importance of their past failure?

You like to label others who are trying to establish accountability as being "bitter". Good manners would prevent some from slinging some pretty choice descriptors in your direction.

And to causally pass off the losses that some suffered - whether it be financial, social, emotional, psychological or human life - as "a business problem" borders on sociopathic thinking.

Or like a government employee.

By the way, what are you doing to try to prevent FMD from coming here?

[kato]

Our government fostered the type of ineptitude that allowed BSE to hit us, regardless of the known consequences and risk. If a debacle like that takes place, and we who pay the price for it just say "Sorry guys, that's OK, we don't mind", then what's to stop them from doing it again with FMD?

Our lawsuit should be a wake up call to those who have the regulatory power to prevent future disasters. They need to know that we're not "fine with it". They need to know that we expect them to live up to what a government's prime directive is, and that is to protect it's citizens. Protecting it's citizens' food supply has to be at the top of that priority list.

[grassfarmer]

All I'm hearing is the same old, same old. You are
trying to send a message to the Government and to
CFIA that they failed in their job. Fair enough. But
can't you see that we need to have knowledge of
things like FMD - as producers - as an industry, so
that we can better advise those who are in power
about future risks? It's unrealistic to sit back and
complain that they aren't doing their job if we, the
beef producers don't know anything of the risks,
aren't prepared to think about it or even get
involved in the discussion. They at the end of the
day are Government employees with a pay check
and a pension, we are the guys with the skin in the
game so it's obviously always going to mean more
to us than it does to them.

Burnt, I have raised this issue many times in the last
decade with producers, producer organizations and
in personal communications with those I think are in
a position to influence decision makers. So far it's
drawn a blank - biggest blank, perhaps not
surprisingly, is from beef producer organizations
who look at you as if you had two heads.

And I'm pleased to be described as a pollyana - I'd
rather be labelled optimistic than a perpetual
pessimist with a half empty glass.

[kato]

I think you may be underestimating Canadian cattle producers on the FMD issue.

IMHO, traceability, red tape and the nonsense that goes with it, premise ID, and such are being driven by a fear of FMD. I also think that there seems to be an unwritten agreement to not bring up the topic in public unless necessary. That reason may be that there is an underlying worry that to bring it up is to inspire some idiots to try and use it against us.

[cpallett]

"They at the end of the
day are Government employees with a pay check
and a pension, we are the guys with the skin in the
game so it's obviously always going to mean more
to us than it does to them."

Yup, and as long as people are prepared to throw up your hands and say that there is nothing you can do to encourage or establish accountability in government, then nothing will change.

For a fellow who paints himself as an activist that is a pretty limp attitude.

As I wrote earlier, all the producer activism in the world on FMD issues won't mean a GD thing if the government drops the ball (yet again). They are the only ones with the authority and the resources to prevent or contain an FMD outbreak, period.

No accountability = no skin in the game = no motivation to perform = FMD disaster.

Iain, if you are unwilling to take any action or responsibility for helping to improve government accountability, while castigating producers for failing to jump on your particular FMD bandwagon, it might be appropriate that you consider Matthew 7:5-8. At the very least you could be gracious enough to keep your negative thoughts to yourself while the rest of us bust our humps working for changes that will benefit you and every other producer.

Not that I have an opinion or any strong views on the matter. Must be my Scottish ancestry at work yet again.

glac gu teann!

Matthew 11:15