March 9, 2007

US' R-Calf says Canadian feed ban ineffective
 

The Canadian government has confirmed that its latest case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was in an Alberta bull born in 2000 - well beyond the 1997 implementation of Canada's feed ban - and well beyond March 1, 1999, the date after which the Canadian feed ban was previously hoped to have become effective.

As a result of this and other recent evidence showing that the 1999 feed ban was not effective in preventing subsequent cases of BSE, US cattle stockgrowers group R-CALF USA is again calling upon the

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to immediately withdraw its plans to reopen the Canadian border to cattle over 30 months (OTM) of age.

Half of Canada's detected BSE cases, said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard, so far have been born after its feed ban was established.

Bullard said this clearly demonstrates that the feed ban has not prevented subsequent cases of BSE in Canada and proving that USDA's OTM rule will increase the risk of introducing BSE-infected cattle into the United States.

R-CALF vice president and region 2 director Randy Stevenson said the presence of BSE years afters the implementation of Canada's feed ban indicates non-compliance in the country's cattle industry. 

Canada's newest improved feed ban is scheduled to take effect on July 12, and the Canadian government says the result will be that BSE is eliminated from its cattle herd in approximately 10 years, and that its level of BSE 'continues to decline.'