December 31, 2004

New Canada Mad Cow Case Unlikely To Impact Trade With US

The U.S. would not likely react by shutting down beef trade or altering the rule it unveiled Wednesday to lift its ban on Canadian cattle in the event that Canada reports the discovery of another case of mad-cow disease, a U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman said Thursday.

"We wouldn't expect (a possible new case) to have any effect at this time on our current trade regulations," USDA spokesman Ed Loyd said.

USDA on Wednesday unveiled a new rule that soon would allow imports of most Canadian cattle. Loyd said he doesn't expect that any possible new BSE case in Canada to have an impact on that rule.

The Canadian government has scheduled an 11 a.m. EST news conference to discuss a possible new case of mad-cow disease.

Loyd said USDA "took into consideration the possibility there would be additional cases of BSE in Canada" when it devised the rule it unveiled Wednesday.