Test all Canadian Beef for BSE

[cswilson]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5016508/
This ban is far from over.

[Joe-2]

Ask yourself this,If the USDA,the Bush administration,NCBA and the packers are so supportive of "normalization in beef trade with Canada",why are they continually supplying R-calf and the protectionists with ammunition such as this???????
Do you actually think that the USDA is so stupid that they thought nobody would notice their little "rule changes" on April 19???? How the hell is it that a little piss-ant outfit like r-calf has enough stroke to make the mighty USDA roll over so easily???
The game is to keep the border closed as long as possible.All the right people are profiting from the closure.USDA is using r-calf to do its dirty work.WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!

[jensend]

we aren't talking about negotiation here; r-calf et al are into eye-gouging and hair-pulling so let's do the smart thing for us and not count on good faith from south of the border.

[jensend]

I was thinking this morning about democracy, and the freedoms it supplies. Do you think that if we did test all of our beef that some of the sane, business minded companies, that we all know exist, in the USA would buy our tested product? I think they would. I don't think this is an America vs. Canada thing, I think it is all about money and greed.

[kato]

If our beef was tested, they'd have to take it because there would be no legal reason not to.

Then all our packers, not just the ones with friends in high places who get special permits would be able to sell beef, and maybe there would be some competition back in the market.

[cowman]

Where in the world did anyone ever think that international trade ever had anything to do with any kind of law?
The fact is America, or Europe for that matter, can do whatever they want?
Give it up on the test! It is NOT going to happen, already!
I believe I was calling for the test from a very early stage? Rsomer, through his various posts, convinced me that just isn't going to happen(not that it shouldn't)! Actually rsomer has a very good grasp of the whole situation...although I don't buy into his optimism! But he has the basics down pretty close to "how it is".
And rsomer, don't let this swell your head...but you are a pretty convincing guy!

[rsomer]

Yea and I am the guy that said the border would be open by today or tomorrow, so what do I know? I guess only a fool tries to make sense of out nonsense. I don't consider myself an optimist but I can't help thinking maybe the border will still open tomorrow so maybe I am.

[cowman]

Hey rsomer, you can't get it right all the time! But I do appreciate your insight and the way you spell it out that 1 2 =3! And I also appreciate your optimism! Hey if there was only sour old pessimists like me around it would be a pretty boring forum?
You keep me hoping that you will be right!...I just wish you were more right!

[kato]

It's the threat of testing, as much as the testing itself that will open the border.

We need our negotiators to go to the table with the news that there is an overwhelming demand by the Canadian producers to test the beef. And the determination to actually DO IT!

As it stands right now, what leverage does Canada have? Asking politely, like good minions grovelling for scraps at the foot of the great American corporate machine? Sorry, that ain't going to cut it.

Successful negotiations require that both sides have something the other side needs. Right now, they hold all the cards. We are empty handed. There is no reason for them to open the border. They've got it too good now.

Testing is the only thing we have that stands a chance of making an impression.

[grassfarmer]

I appreciate the valiant efforts of RPK and others to push this testing agenda further and agree it would be great if we could do it and steal the Japanese market from the Americans. Unfortunately I don't see any way around the Packers - these guys will not test beef because they are under their US bosses orders not to. All talk of testing beef and exporting it to willing customers is worthless unless we can get around this problem. The new plant in the Peace country wants to sell tested beef but I expect Canada will not permit it to do that just like USDA didn't with Creekstone.

[15444]

Wonder if anyone else saw the coverage on The National tonight of several producers in the Peace River region that are trying to get a slaughter plant built that will do universal testing? I thought it was a very good representation of the true nature of who and what is running this industry.

The comment was made by one American that the US is very concerned and watching our situation very closely up here and will put pressure on Canadian cattle organizations to follow the US lead with respect to testing.

The producers in Alberta want to sell BSE-tested, hormone free beef to the domestic, Asian and European markets. A major issue holding them back is the CFIA's refusal to support universal testing.

[ALICIA]

Don't forget that there are also a few thousand head of cattle in Canada that are made in the USA and it would be a real blow if we tested one of theirs and it tested positive. So no wander they don"t want us to test every thing, we just may open up a bigger can of worms.

[ALICIA]

Okay cowman you're right. Let's give up on the ony thread of hope we have.
I will take your advice maybe--------never.

You still haven't told me which parts of Cam Ostercamp's article are lies rsomer.

Testing is our only hope, and government legislation is the only way to get Cargil and Lakeside to test. It may take time, but that is the one thing that everyone above the cattle producers seems to have lots of.

Election time is the only time that we could possibly get some attention from our politicians. But hey, lets give up like cowman says. Hope everybody has gas wells, and high priced land like good old cowman so that they can JUST GIVE UP.

[rsomer]

I note the references to hope. We all need something to hang our hope onto. I was hoping the border would open today. Although the day is not over it looks like I have to find some other reason for hope the border will open soon. Testing is going on right now and there is absolutely no doubt that more testing will be done in the future, how much remains to be seen.

The ongoing talks between the U.S. and Japan are going to determine just what testing gets done from here on. These talks have began and are scheduled for June and July. The international rules on BSE are being written right now not by the OIE but by these two major economic powers. Maybe they will decide on 100% testing on all animals even under 30 months, who knows. Canada is not even part of these discussions but there is absolutely no doubt that whatever the U.S. agrees to Canada will follow. We don’t have any choice.

Lots of time? I am having to rethink our commitment to keep our calves until the border opens. There are a lot of calves still on the farm and a lot of decision making is going to be made. Fortunately the grass looks like it is coming not too bad which might buy our industry some needed months.

Where I see an election issue coming out of this is not so much with BSE itself but with Canada’s role in the world and NAFTA. As a nation rich in energy reserves we should be taking our rightful place as a world power. Instead Canada seem to have no power at all. U.S. leaders go to Japan to kowtow to resume imports of U.S. beef. I cannot imagine U.S. leaders coming to Canada to ask us for anything. How did we as a nation get so impotent? Ontario alone trades more with the U.S. than Japan but you would never know it. Whichever party’s leader can inspire confidence in our nations voters that he has a vision of Canada as a nation taking its rightful place as an influential world power would very likely become the next Prime Minister of this great nation.

Cam Ostercamp just expressed his opinion in his essay, I did not see any lies. Myself, I do not see Canada pursuing its own BSE course here, we will stay harmonized with the U.S. I can see angry producers pointing out that harmonization has not done us much good up to now. But we are shipping beef to the U.S. and things would be much worse if we did not have that market. Harmonization has created a North American marketplace and ultimately that is the greatest hope for our beef industry, now and in the future. One thing we can do independently as a nation is increase our domestic packing plant capacity. But our BSE testing, our food safety protocols, grading etc. are going to stay harmonized with the U.S.

[kato]

I think a lot of the reason we have no power is that our government likes to go to a gun fight with a water pistol. You cannot negotiate with the biggest bully on the block without bringing some ammunition.

We have only one thing that the Americans don't want us to do, and thats the BSE test.

This is serious business, and our government has to be willing to play it like the Americans do. Like they wouldn't push us? They've been pushing us for a year. There are no guilty consciences down there at all over what's been happening.

And we think that if we ask nicely they will just let our beef in?