January 30, 2004

 

 

Bush's 2005 Budget To Include $47 Million More To Fight Mad Cow

 

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman on Thursday said President George W. Bush's fiscal year 2005 budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture would include an increase of $47 million to fund multi-agency efforts to enhance the USDA's bovine spongiform

encephalopathy prevention program.

 

Speaking at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's annual convention in Phoenix, Veneman said, "The Bush administration remains committed to protecting public health and the safety of our food supply. These additional resources will fund enhanced prevention activities including increased testing, monitoring and surveillance for BSE. These funds are in addition to the $178 million already announced for completion of the National Centers for Animal Health renovation."

 

Veneman announced aggressive actions on Dec. 30 to further enhance the U.S. safeguards already in place to prevent BSE, commonly known as mad-cow disease, from entering the food supply, according to a USDA press release. The actions, announced one week after the Dec. 23 confirmation that a cow in Washington state had tested positive for BSE, include: the prohibition of non- ambulatory animals from the human food supply; further restrictions of specified risk materials in the food supply; requiring additional process controls for establishments using advanced meat recovery systems; and holding meat from cattle that have been tested for BSE until the test results are received and they are negative.

 

The President will request a total of $60 million for BSE-related activities; a $47 million, or 377%, increase over fiscal year 2004.

 

The total requested includes:

 

     - $33 million to further accelerate the development of a national animal identification system;

     - $17 million for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to collect 40,000 samples and tests for BSE at rendering plants and on farms;

     - $5 million for the Agricultural Research Service to conduct advanced research and development of BSE testing technologies;

     - $4 million for the Food Safety and Inspection Service to conduct monitoring and surveillance of compliance with the regulations for specified risk materials and advance meat recovery; and

     - $1 million for the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration to dispatch rapid response teams to markets experiencing BSE- related complaints regarding contracts or lack of prompt payment.

 

Veneman also said the administration is considering a proposal to transfer emergency funds from the Commodity Credit Corp. to help finance these activities for fiscal 2004, including the implementation for the a national animal identification program. The USDA transferred $10.5 million from the CCC last fall to Aphis to double the testing for BSE in cattle from 20,000 to 40,000 in fiscal year 2004.

 

The USDA release said a crucial part of its BSE response is research and diagnostics. On Jan. 13, Veneman announced that the president's fiscal 2005 budget would also include $178 million to complete the renovation of USDA's new National Centers for Animal Health. The Centers, located in Ames, Iowa, is USDA's flagship laboratory for large animal research and diagnosis. It was the National Veterinary Services Laboratory, which is part of the National Centers for Animal Health, that diagnosed the case of BSE found in Washington state. The President's request would represent the final installment of the $460 million needed to fully renovate the facilities and if approved by Congress will permit the USDA to complete the project by the end of 2007.