May 27, 2004

 

 

USDA Asked To Maintain Ban On Canadian Beef Pending Scientific Risk Analysis

 

Following admissions by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that it violated its own mad cow disease prevention regulations by allowing high risk Canadian meat into the U.S., independent cattle producers joined the nation's leading consumer advocacy organizations today in calling on USDA to maintain the current ban on Canadian beef and cattle imports until a scientific risk analysis can be conducted by a balanced panel of experts under the auspices of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). After bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) -- also known as mad cow disease -- was detected in a native Canadian cow last May, USDA banned imports of cattle and beef from Canada.

 

The Consumer Federation of America and Public Citizen were joined by the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund - United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) in urging USDA to halt a proposed regulatory change that would permit the resumption of cattle and beef imports from Canada until the NAS risk analysis is completed, and public hearings can be held on the issue. R-CALF and the consumer groups said both USDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should oversee the NAS study to ensure it addresses both animal and human health.

 

In a letter sent today to Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman, the groups also called for tracking and testing of all Canadian cattle now in the U.S., for a definitive study to determine the actual prevalence of mad cow disease in the Canadian cattle herd, and to test all Canadian cattle slaughtered for beef destined for the U.S. Consumers Union, the independent, non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, separately endorsed the proposals.

 

"The Bush Administration's actions in response to BSE-infected cows in the U.S. and Canada raise questions of both competence and integrity. USDA has failed to follow its own rules to prevent imports from countries where BSE- infected animals have been found, failed to test a cow showing symptoms of central nervous system disease, and systematically excluded both the public and human health experts from any meaningful role in shaping U.S. policy to combat BSE," said Carol Tucker Foreman, Director, Food Policy, Consumer Federation of America (CFA). "The Administration should act immediately to secure the best scientific analysis of the risk from Canadian beef and convene a series of public hearings so that all stakeholders, not just politically powerful representatives of the meat industry, can engage in an exchange of views with USDA and FDA officials."

 

"USDA has acknowledged its failures in several instances to follow its own rules for protecting U.S. consumers from BSE, and no one has conducted a comprehensive analysis on the risk to human health," said Bill Bullard, R-CALF CEO. "USDA can restore trust and confidence in the agency and the process by halting its current rulemaking that would weaken health and safety regulations that protect American consumers and U.S. cattle from BSE and waiting for independent scientific evidence before making a decision that could put U.S. consumers at unnecessary risk. The health and safety of U.S. consumers must come first."

 

The USDA has been under intense pressure from Canada and large multinational meat packers with facilities in both countries to resume imports of beef and cattle. But the actual prevalence of BSE in Canada is unknown, and at the moment, there is no tracking and testing of the approximately 450,000 cattle from Canada that are now in the U.S.

 

"USDA has inappropriately relied upon a study prepared by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis to say that despite the confirmed presence of BSE in Canada, importation of Canadian beef does not pose a health risk to U.S. consumers," said Bill Bullard. "Furthermore, neither the Harvard study or USDA's risk analysis assessed the risk to human health in the U.S. of resuming imports of beef and cattle from Canada."

 

"USDA must make policies to protect this nation from mad cow disease based on science, not politics," said Patricia Lovera, Deputy Director, Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program, Public Citizen. "Without a thorough, balanced analysis of the risk of BSE from Canada, USDA has no basis for a sound decision that will protect U.S. consumers and the U.S. cattle herd."

 

BSE is a fatal brain-wasting disease that affects cattle. Scientists believe that Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), a rare and fatal human neurodegenerative condition, is caused by consumption of meat and other products produced from cattle infected with BSE. Two Canadian cows infected with BSE have been found to date, including one that had been brought into the U.S.

 

After a BSE-infected cow was identified in Alberta, Canada on May 20, 2003, USDA banned imports of Canadian cattle and beef. Then on August 8, 2003, USDA announced it would permit import of boneless cuts of beef that were deemed to be at lower risk of carrying the disease. USDA stated at that time that imports of other beef products would not be allowed and would be addressed in a subsequent rulemaking process. On October 31, 2003, USDA announced a proposed rule that would relax existing U.S. BSE protections to allow imports of beef products and cattle from Canada.

 

On April 19, 2004, while the rulemaking was ongoing, USDA quietly issued a public notice permitting the resumption of virtually all beef and bovine products from Canada. That action precipitated a legal challenge by R-CALF USA that resulted in a federal judge blocking the new policy and USDA agreeing to reinstate the ban on most beef products in effect in August 2003.

 

During the litigation, R-CALF USA discovered that USDA had secretly permitted the import of as much as 38 million pounds of bone-in beef, processed meat (including ground beef and sausage) and tongue, products that USDA had said would not be allowed into the United States. Last Friday, USDA publicly acknowledged its failures to adhere to its own standards for protection against mad cow disease.

 

"We are calling on USDA to take long overdue, simple and straightforward steps to protect U.S. consumers from BSE," Tucker Foreman said.

 

R-CALF USA, the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America, represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on domestic and international trade and marketing issues, and is dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry.

 

Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit research, education and advocacy organization founded in 1968, is an alliance of over 300 local, state and national consumer advocacy groups, consumer cooperatives, and national organizations representing senior citizens, anti-hunger advocates, farmers and trade unionists with a total membership of 50 million Americans. CFA's policy positions are developed, debated and approved by representatives of the member groups.

 

Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded to represent consumer interests in Congress, the executive branch and the courts.