USDA Rules Against Private BSE Testing.

[rsomer]

USDA has rejected a meatpacker's plan to test every animal at its Kansas slaughterhouse for mad cow disease in order to meet Japan's demand for testing of all cattle it buys. The department's ruling Thursday removes at least one question mark relative to the potential to resume beef exports to Japan. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, was seeking to privately test each animal at its Arkansas City, Kansas, plant.

[kato]

Anybody know what the Canadian government's opinion on private testing is?

[Horse]

I feel it makes perfect sence because if they test every animal you just know there will be more turn up and then the rollercoaster starts all over again better the public dont get those news casts to regular.

[grassfarmer]

Horse, One thing I can tell you from experience is that if you attempt to cover up BSE or mislead consumers over it's prevelance the beef industry would be committing suicide.

[Willowcreek]

USDA and NCBA keep telling us down here in the states that there is no chance of anymore cases of BSE being found in the US. Then they should not be afraid of testing- unless???
The major packers control USDA and the NCBA and they don't want the competition Creekstone would make.
Why else would you stand in the way of free enterprise that could raise the demand of beef and hopefully raise the price? Japan wants Creekstones tested beef- Japan will pay the costs of testing. Win-Win situation for American and Canadian producers.
And if their is a worst problem with BSE than we think- better to find it now and start mandatory testing than 5 years from now when people start appearing with vCJD.
A year or two of no positives would revive the market and testing could be ended.

[cowman]

Right from the start both of our governments and cattle organizations fought the whole idea of testing, while most of the producers were generally for it? After all it made sense to pay the thirty dollar test to get $700 for your old cow rather than $100 with no test?
Now why would the government/organizations be so against it? Well it's simple...follow the money! Who made a killing on BSE? The packers/retailers! Why on earth would they want to have a solution that took $600 more dollars out of their pockets?
The other reason to not test is I believe both the US and Canada are following a solution of "Shoot, Shovel, and Shutup"! If you don't go looking you sure won't find anything! I guess they all took note of what Ralph was saying when he spouted off about the 3S solution, while ripping him in public! Then they quietly went out and implemented the 3S solution? After all what was the first thing the USDA did?...NO MORE DOWNERS!

[amazed]

When I read that the Japanese will pay for the BSE testing I have to wonder why they would increase the tarrif from 38.5% to 50% on US beef last August if they wanted it so badly that they will now pay for the testing.

[rsomer]

I think Japan doesn’t have any right to ask for 100% BSE testing.

Lets consider what is really going on here. Japan is trying to write the trade rules on imported beef. "The customer is always right" is not the issue here. The market does not know if the Japanese customer will accept American beef without test or for that matter Canadian beef without test because the Japanese government is not allowing their consumers that choice. North American beef is being denied access to Japan for political reasons. Food safety certainly is not the issue if we are considering North American beef under 30 months of age.

Japan cannot, on its own, write new quality guidelines for imported beef. Who do they think they are, Americans? At the same time as Japan is denying access to American beef they are sending their exported products to the U.S. International trade is a two way street, if they want to send Japanese cars to the U.S. they have to take U.S. beef in return.

I think the Japanese have an identity crisis going on here, they think they can act like Americans. This coming week U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will visit Japan and remind them just who is master and who is slave. As slave they don’t get to write the rules and they don’t get to ask for 100% testing. They don’t have that right. Canadians are smarter than the Japanese and have known this fact for a long time. They didn’t need to have an atomic bomb dropped on them to be reminded.

I couldn’t help but notice the U.S. request to send this issue to the WTO and WHO, why didn’t Canada think of that?

[rsomer]

I would tend to agree 100% with cowman on this one. Test all the slaughter animals over thirty months, and under, if that is what it takes. We will be the ones to ultimately pay for it, why shouldn't we be the ones to decide.

[amazed]

But rpkaiser IS that what it takes?

I tend to agree with rsomer and believe it is nothing but politics. There is no guarantee the Japanese will take any beef even if it is tested and they want ALL our beef tested.

[kato]

It's a tough problem.

If you only test some animals, you'll have a disaster every time you find one.

If you test all animals, it becomes a non-issue of you find one, because "you're testing all animals".

So we have to decide/predict what will happen when or if they find another one. Will the market collapse again? Can we survive that? Or will the "new" rules actually work to keep us in business? Remember, under the "rules" we can find more cattle without anything changing. (or so we are told)

Do we live with it hanging over our head? Or do we spend the money, perhaps without ever finding another one?

Mmmm.....

[grassfarmer]

rsomer, maybe you should just move to the US if they are so brilliant? Personally I don't think they are the smartest nation on earth, coming from Europe I still see them as the "new kids on the block" and their lack of history, culture and worldly knowledge continually sees them making huge mistakes in the world political and military scenes.
As far as BSE and the Japanese goes the Japanese consumer has indicated their intention to eat only tested beef - that was obvious by the consumption drops they had when the problem arose. Although I believe N. American beef to be safe it is for the Japanese consumer to decide that not the US Government. This is the same arrogant crap the US has been trying to force on Europe for years when they think consumers should be eating hormone raised beef - wake up boys the consumer IS always right.

"Canadians are smarter than Japanese" - really? perhaps if we had decided to play hardball with the US like Japan is doing we might have got a lot further ahead than we have up to now. Let's face it despite all claims to the contrary nothing the Government or lobbyists in this country have done since 20th May has made one sliver of difference to the border opening, we are cowering waiting for the US to decide to let us back in. At least the Japanese have the guts to send the Americans packing when they came last week trying to tell them what they had to do to re-establish beef trading. It has been said the Americans were again showing their cultural ignorance by the manner of the approach which caused offence to Japan. Still got much to learn the USA despite their lofty position of school yard bully.

[rsomer]

The Americans are far from brilliant but they are the school yard bully. They make the rules. And this is about protecting American economic interests, international power and not about food safety or consumerism. Cheney is in Japan right now. The issues on the plate are more than beef, they include 3 Japanese hostages in Iraq and the North Korean nuclear issue. In the world of international politics Japan is not in any position to continue their ban on U.S. beef. I believe the Japanese DIET will very quickly agree to begin accepting imports of U.S. beef. I would expect an announcement within days.
Grassfarmer, you said "At least the Japanese have the guts to send the Americans packing when they came last week trying to tell them what they had to do to re-establish beef trading." We will know pretty soon if they have the guts or not. Japan has not displayed any moral fortitude in the past as Japan has backed down every other time there was a major trade issue with the U.S. It was one thing for Japan to deny imports of Canadian beef, they are playing with the big dogs this time.
There are American forces stationed in Japan at this very moment if the Japanese forget who is calling the shots.

[cowman]

If Japan demands that their beef farmers must test every animal don't you think it is fair to ask all imports to be tested, especially from countries that have BSE? Why does it always have to be the lowest common denominator?
If Europe demands that beef be hormone free from it's farmers then wouldn't it make sense to insist that all incoming meat be hormone free? Where did the world sign on the dotted line that whatever the Americans think is right is what we all have to do?
Now America likes to go on about the "science" of food safety. The science of hormones and BSE. What "science" is that? The "science" that Monsanto puts out or perhaps the "science" that Cargill puts out? I would suggest that "science" has become whatever sells the product...safe or not?
Perhaps I have a jaded view or something but I see corporate America as a bunch of liars and thieves who will do anything to sell their products. They don't care about the people in foreign countries or in fact the American people.

[amazed]

Yes it is fair for the Japanese demand all imports be tested for BSE. Is it fair for the Japanese to demand all Norht American beef be tested for BSE, not only what they may import.

To assume that Japan and Europe will import North American beef if it meets their "demands" does not mean they will import it.

When Canadian beef was eliminated from the Japanese market last summer and replaced by American, the Japanese increased the tarrif on US product because they claimed the US over their allowable amount.

Politics being played by all involved.