January 05, 2004

US Officials In Mexico For BSE Talks

Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will try to convince Mexico that U.S. beef imports are safe despite the recent mad cow case.

Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services J.B. Penn, who will be making the trip alongside USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Bill Hawks, told OsterDowJones that he believes the case they will make to Mexico is strong and that he expects the country to lower its ban on the U.S. much quicker than it did for Canada that country announced a BSE case.

USDA Chief Veterinarian Ron DeHaven said this week that, in hindsight, the U.S. may have overreacted by immediately banning all beef and cattle products when Canada announced on May 20 that it discovered a single case of BSE.

DeHaven said USDA officials have learned from that experience that the drastic measures many countries took in reaction to the Canadian case may not have been necessary.

It took about two months after it erected the ban for USDA to begin allowing some Canadian beef products back into the U.S. on Aug. 8, and Penn said U.S. officials have learned a lot from that experience.

Penn said of Mexican officials: "My sense is they are willing to look at the science and that they will do the right thing. They followed what we did with the Canadians. They opened (up to Canada) very soon after we did."

Penn and Hawks will meet with Mexican officials Monday and Tuesday before returning to the U.S.