July 12, 2004
Canada To Introduce New Animal Feed Restrictions
Canada will introduce new animal feed restrictions to further strengthen the country's safeguards against bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, the Canadian government announced Friday.
The government intends to require the removal of bovine specified risk materials from the animal feed chain, according to a Canadian Food Inspection Agency news release. SRM are the tissues in infected cattle that harbor the BSE agent. These tissues are already removed from all animals slaughtered for human consumption, the CFIA noted.
Canada's current feed ban has prohibited feeding cattle with ruminant materials since 1997, including SRM. The new regulations will prevent the potentially infectious materials from entering the entire feed production chain at the start, diminishing the potential for cross-contamination of ruminant feeds, the CFIA said. Removing SRM from animal feed is expected to more quickly reduce the incidence of BSE in North America, by preventing the future spread of the disease, according to the CFIA.
"Canada had the foresight to implement protections, such as the feed ban, well before we discovered BSE in this part of the world," said Bob Speller, minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the minister responsible for the CFIA, in the release. "Taking a forward looking approach to build on those safeguards will provide the long-term level of animal health protection needed."
The CFIA will now introduce a regulatory proposal requiring the removal and redirection of SRM and dead and downer cattle from all animal feed, including pet food, the release said. In making the decision the Canadian government has been in consultations with numerous parties, including provincial and territorial representatives, stakeholders and international counterparts, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The widespread consultations are expected to continue as the government works on an implementation timetable, as well as other operational details.
