New Orleans Refuses Canadian Beef

[farmers_son]

http://www.canada.com/news/world/story.html?id=233e9df3-fce5-490d-8704-3760e2c5775d

PENSACOLA, Fla. (CP) - A Canadian icebreaker was told Wednesday not to unload its entire cargo of relief supplies.

The icebreaker, the Sir William Alexander, was ordered not to unload its foodstuffs destined for New Orleans flood victims. The foodstuffs contained Canadian beef and could not legally be imported.

[rkaiser]

Heard of a few loads from the EU and Russia as well.

Amazing

[WoolyBear]

Its not that far south to Cuba...... I am sure that Castro would appreciate it. What a pile of crap...... we try to help and this is the thanks we get.

Glad to see the Canadian Navy/CG doing their part.

[blackjack]

...was it in a box with product from Canada labeled by Cargill or Tyson...lol...maybe we could do a little PR and have the N.O. refugees come a board and have a good old western meal with our soldiers...maybe that is not such a good idea...the Montana reporter might write...

Headlines in Montana Star
Candians feed tainted beef to refugees in N.O.

[cowman]

Well I would have to question what kind of idiot put that beef on the ship in the first place? Didn't he/she realize the US had health laws regarding beef?
How would the USDA look if they allowed this beef in? Can you just imagine how R-CALF would have run with that one?
Good to see the USDA is on top of the situation and doing its job!
We might not agree with the US position on BSE and the border, but there is a process we need to follow and it is not helpful for somebody to try to circumvent that process? Whether through a deliberate action or through ignorance.

[farmers_son]

I was always raised to believe you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

The Canadians put together a response to Katrina even before the U.S. asked us for help. While I have no way of knowing for sure, it is likely the beef was in preprepared individual meal packets or IMPs that provide a fairly decent meal quickly.

Somewhere along the way the U.S. seems to have forgotten they have BSE too. And that food safety is equivalent in the United States and Canada.

Cowman: If the USDA was on top of the situation and doing its job they would have put into place rules to see normal trade resume with Canada long ago. Maybe I am missing something but there is no difference in risk of BSE between U.S. and Canada. There is no reason to be blocking any of our product. None whatsoever.

Especially when it comes to helping victims of Katrina.

[WoolyBear]

I don't know but I would think that even if the "beef" was Canadian, it would still be a whole lot better than the Ready to Eat military rations that the Americans sent out.

[cowman]

The point here is: If the law says one thing you don't break it because of one local situation? No one starved to death because the USA upheld their food safety laws?
It would have been very irresponsible for the USA to violate its own rules?
Whether we think those rules are crazy or not, doesn't matter? There is a process to go through here and bypassing that process just gives R-CALF more ammo to scream the USDA is incompetent and not protecting the American consumer!
Again, I would question who would be ignorant enough to try to send a banned product to the USA? I doubt very much if this food aid was donated by the supplier. I have no doubt the Canadian government donated it...but who did they buy it from? Pretty sure it wasn't UTM meat stamped "product of Canada" with all the paperwork!
If that banned product had gotten into the USA it could have led to all kinds of problems? In case you didn't realize it we have an enemy down there who delights in trying to smear our product and likes nothing better than painting the US government as a bunch of globalists trying to "destroy" the American food supply!

[farmers_son]

And I suppose the tents that were on ship to create a tent city of 1800 emergency shelters had a softwood lumber pole in the middle. Our military should have left them at home too.

The area was under martial law, people were dying. Either they needed help or they didn’t. I doubt if even R-Calf would dare to raise an issue with donated food to help flood victims. I saw on TV that Americans displaced by Katrina are in Alberta attending university where they have been given free tuition. Should someone tell them not to eat the beef?

[cowman]

farmers son: You are arguing apples and oranges here and you know it! Tent poles are not a banned product. They are not a health safety issue.
The fact is R-CALF would have definitely used this if they knew. When have they ever showed they were rational thinkers?
I think you are simply American bashing? I realize you don't particularily like the Americans and seem to think they are evil or something! There are a whole lot of things wrong with America, I will agree, but there are a whole lot of things that are very good about America?
Canada is not some kind of Utopia where all the superior people in the world landed! We have a whole lot wrong here too and a whole lot of evil people, also?
The USDA has a process in place to resume trade in cattle and beef? They are our customer and we need to give our customer what they want? Trying to thwart that process so somebody can move some product at the Canadian taxpayers expense is not helpful nor necessary? Nobody starved or went hungry because the USDA wouldn't break its own rules? You are not being rational on this subject.