July 19, 2006
US may revise cattle import rule on new Canada mad cow case
The US, which was lifting its ban on Canadian cattle over 30 months of age, may have to make changes to the proposed rule in response to Canada's most recent mad-cow case, according to industry officials.
Andrea Morgan, a veterinarian and associate deputy administrator at the USDA, said a draft of the US rule on older Canadian cattle is ready, but may need to be revised.
Canada's latest case of mad cow disease occurred in a cow just 50 months old. This meant it was born more than four years after Canada implemented cattle feed restrictions that were supposed to halt the spread of mad cow disease.
The USDA sent one of its epidemiologists to Canada to follow the country's investigation into its seventh native-born case of mad cow disease to see whether the latest case is part of a widespread problem with the country's feed ban.
The case may affect the cut-off point for cattle birth dates that the US government would allow, said US-based National Cattlemen's Beef Association Director of Regulatory Affairs Gary Weber.
Canada now considers 1999 to be the year that all ranchers there became fully compliant with the feed ban. The USDA may now bring the date up further, he said.
Chuck Kiker, president of another cattle producer group, R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America, called for an indefinite ban on older Canadian cattle.
Citing a recent concern voiced by South Korea, Kiker said in a letter to USDA Secretary Mike Johanns that allowing those cattle into the US would only deter foreign importers of US beef.
Canada's seventh case of mad cow disease is also its fourth found in a cow born after the country's feed ban was imposed.
Part of the reason the USDA is eager to allow in the older Canadian cattle is that there are many cow-slaughter operations processing older beef and dairy cattle.
In 2003, before the trade was halted, about 250,000 head of older cows slaughtered in the US came from Canada.
