January 4, 2005
Australia Closely Monitors Canada's Mad Cow Case
Australia is closely monitoring the response to the second case of mad cow disease in Canada, but forecasters say it is too early to predict any impact on the local beef market.
According to the Canadian government, the dairy cow from the western province of Alberta detected with the disease was born in 1996 and was probably infected before strict prevention measures were put in place in 1997.
Canada is assuring trading partners that its beef is safe and that the country has a strong regulatory regime in place to stop the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease.
The United States banned the import of live Canadian cattle following the discovery of a case of mad cow disease, also in Alberta, in 2003.
Last Thursday, the US announced it would be resuming conditional live imports under strict new regulations.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) is monitoring the situation to see if there are any consequences for the local industry.
ABARE commodity forecaster Jammie Penm said Australia competed with Canada for access to the US market and the ban on Canadian exports had created an opportunity for the Aussie industry.
Mr Penm said the impact of the latest case would depend on the response from the US.
"So far the US government has not expressed any change of plan for reopening the US market to Canadian beef... but the situation could change," he said.
"Even if there isn't any change of plan from the US government side, whether the US consumers will react to the second case of mad cow disease or not is another issue that we need to consider."
Mr Penm said the latest case of mad cow in Canada was a reminder of the importance of strict regulatory regimes to prevent outbreaks.
"The message is that quality control and disease-free status is very important," he said.
"Our clean image is a really great trademark for Australian beef so we need to keep our industry disease free."
