Canada Obeys Mad Cow Feed Ban, U.S. Cattlemen Say
Thu January 27, 2005 8:00 PM GMT-05:00
By Charles Abbott
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada is obeying a 1997 ban on using cattle parts in cattle feed, U.S. cattlemen said after a visit there triggered by doubts about whether Americans could safely eat Canadian beef after new cases of mad cow disease.
The feed ban is commonly described as a key firewall against spread of the fatal bovine illness. Questions about Canadian compliance have clouded a U.S. plan to allow imports of younger cattle from Canada beginning March 7.
"Given the ages" of Canadian cattle identified as carrying mad cow disease, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association said the most reasonable explanation was "exposure to feed produced before the August 1997 feed ban."
The latest confirmed case was in an animal born shortly after Canada's feed ban was put in place.
"The Canadian feed industry appears to be in compliance with its feed ban, based on visual inspections and audit reports," said NCBA, which sent a team to Canada last week to look into safeguards against the illness.
A U.S. government team, led by the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, team went to Canada this week on a similar trip to examine mad cow safeguards.
In 1997, Canada and the United States banned feeding cattle protein made from cattle and other ruminant livestock, a practice believed to spread mad cow disease. The ban took effect that October, but did not include a recall of feed made before the ban.
Imports of Canadian beef were cut off when Canada's first native case was reported in May 2003, though shipments of some beef resumed a few months later.
Canada reported two cases of mad cow disease early this month, shortly after the United States unveiled a plan to resume beef trade.
Ranch activists in the United States want to keep the border closed, with some ranchers fearing an influx of Canadian cattle will depress healthy U.S. cattle prices.
"There is no question this issue -- resumption of trade with Canada -- has been at the top of U.S. cattlemen's minds and a primary topic of conversation," said Jamie Willrett, who led the nine-member NCBA delegation.
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, the Democratic leader on the Senate Agriculture Committee, on Thursday urged USDA to withdraw the Canada rule.
The delegation's final report will be given to members at NCBA's annual meeting Feb. 2-5 in San Antonio, Texas, for use in setting the organization's policy.
NCBA supports opening the border but also says U.S. beef exports to Japan and South Korea -- which halted after the United States discovered its own domestic case of mad cow a year ago -- must resume by March 7 and expand in Mexico "through negotiations at the highest levels of government officials."
NCBA leaders also have asked for a U.S. audit of feed ban compliance in Canada.
Thu January 27, 2005 8:00 PM GMT-05:00
By Charles Abbott
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada is obeying a 1997 ban on using cattle parts in cattle feed, U.S. cattlemen said after a visit there triggered by doubts about whether Americans could safely eat Canadian beef after new cases of mad cow disease.
The feed ban is commonly described as a key firewall against spread of the fatal bovine illness. Questions about Canadian compliance have clouded a U.S. plan to allow imports of younger cattle from Canada beginning March 7.
"Given the ages" of Canadian cattle identified as carrying mad cow disease, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association said the most reasonable explanation was "exposure to feed produced before the August 1997 feed ban."
The latest confirmed case was in an animal born shortly after Canada's feed ban was put in place.
"The Canadian feed industry appears to be in compliance with its feed ban, based on visual inspections and audit reports," said NCBA, which sent a team to Canada last week to look into safeguards against the illness.
A U.S. government team, led by the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, team went to Canada this week on a similar trip to examine mad cow safeguards.
In 1997, Canada and the United States banned feeding cattle protein made from cattle and other ruminant livestock, a practice believed to spread mad cow disease. The ban took effect that October, but did not include a recall of feed made before the ban.
Imports of Canadian beef were cut off when Canada's first native case was reported in May 2003, though shipments of some beef resumed a few months later.
Canada reported two cases of mad cow disease early this month, shortly after the United States unveiled a plan to resume beef trade.
Ranch activists in the United States want to keep the border closed, with some ranchers fearing an influx of Canadian cattle will depress healthy U.S. cattle prices.
"There is no question this issue -- resumption of trade with Canada -- has been at the top of U.S. cattlemen's minds and a primary topic of conversation," said Jamie Willrett, who led the nine-member NCBA delegation.
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, the Democratic leader on the Senate Agriculture Committee, on Thursday urged USDA to withdraw the Canada rule.
The delegation's final report will be given to members at NCBA's annual meeting Feb. 2-5 in San Antonio, Texas, for use in setting the organization's policy.
NCBA supports opening the border but also says U.S. beef exports to Japan and South Korea -- which halted after the United States discovered its own domestic case of mad cow a year ago -- must resume by March 7 and expand in Mexico "through negotiations at the highest levels of government officials."
NCBA leaders also have asked for a U.S. audit of feed ban compliance in Canada.
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