July 9, 2004

US Feed Likely To Blame For Canada BSE Case

It was U.S. cattle feed that likely infected a Canadian cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said in a speech Wednesday.

Martin, according to a transcript of the speech given at a convention in Idaho, said: "When BSE ... was discovered in a Canadian cow, some chose to ignore the fact that in all probability, the feed that gave it the disease came from the United States and consequently, the border was closed."

The U.S., along with most importing countries, banned Canadian beef and cattle in May 2003, when Canada announced it found a BSE-infected animal. Since then the U.S. has eased its ban on some Canadian beef and continues to consider a proposal to allow in Canadian live cattle, so long as they are under 30 months of age.

Peter Fernandez, an associate deputy administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said on Thursday that Canada has never offered any proof that U.S. feed infected the Canadian cow.

Martin, in the Wednesday speech, blamed the influence of U.S. "special interests" on the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the delay in repealing the U.S. ban on Canadian cattle. He also warned that if the ban remains in place, Canada will be forced to increase its processing capacity to replace U.S industry that formerly imported Canadian cattle.

"What Canada is going to have to do pretty soon if that market does not open is start to build massive processing capacity in Canada and then, when the market opens, you're going to have huge overcapacity in processing, a lot of it north of the border competing with you here," Martin said. "If the border does not open, then that processing capacity is going to go and start direct shipments to Japan and Korea, who are your major markets."

Japan and South Korea still maintain bans on Canadian and U.S. beef because of BSE cases.

The U.S. reported in December that it also discovered a BSE case, but USDA officials said later the cow had been raised and likely infected in Canada.