February 21, 2007

 

USDA: Canadian cattle imports are documented and under control

 

 

Some imported Canadian cattle may have violated Washington state's regulations after entering the US, but the federal government believes it is accurately documenting trade, US Department of Agriculture officials said Tuesday (Feb 20).

 

"These are not undocumented cattle," USDA Undersecretary Bruce Knight told Dow Jones Newswires. He spoke in the wake of a Chicago Tribune news report that said hundreds of Canadian cattle entered the US without the proper paperwork.

 

Knight is in charge of investigating whether there were any federal trade infractions, but stressed that it appears so far that only some state-level documentation was botched.

 

The investigation is ongoing, he said, but preliminary results show that no Canadian cattle have been illegally crossing the border or been illegally slaughtered in the US.

 

The US allows imports only of Canadian cattle younger than 30 months. Animals older than that are banned.

 

So far in the USDA investigation, spokeswoman Andrea McNally said Tuesday, the bulk of problems found were failures of feedlots to provide the Washington State Veterinarian's Office with copies of "movement permits" when cattle were sent to slaughterhouses.

 

These notices, she said, are filed when cattle move from a feedlot to a slaughterhouse. Washington state has an additional requirement that its head veterinarian also be informed.

 

Washington State Department of Agriculture spokesman Jason Kelly said officials there are focused on making sure that imported Canadian cattle are indeed going to slaughter, but he also noted there is "no evidence that any Canadian cattle have moved outside of slaughter channels".

 

Imported Canadian cattle must either go directly to slaughter or to a dedicated feedlot before slaughter under federal regulations.

 

The imported cattle must be slaughtered before they reach 30 months old, McNally said, adding that appears to be happening as it is supposed to. But in some instances notices were not sent to the Washington State Veterinarian's Office.

 

Older cattle are believed to be a larger threat for infection with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or

mad cow disease. All of the nine BSE cases found in Canada and the three discovered in the US have involved cattle over 30 months old.

 

The US banned all Canadian cattle in May 2003 after the country confirmed its first domestic BSE case. The US eased that ban in July 2005 to allow imports of cattle under 30 months old, because the younger cattle are believed to be far less likely to be infected with BSE.

 

The USDA is in the process of easing the ban further to allow in older cattle, so long as they were born after March 1, 1999. The proposed federal rule is now undergoing a public comment period.

 

USDA Secretary Mike Johanns said Tuesday he has no plans to circumvent the rule-making process that would result in Canadian cattle older than 30 months of age legally being shipped to the US

 

The first BSE-infected cow discovered in the US in December 2003 was later shown to have been imported from Canada.