January 13, 2004

Eight More Countries Ban US Beef On Mad Cow

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday has added eight nations to the list it maintains on countries that have erected bans on U.S. beef, cattle or other products in reaction to the case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, discovered in the U.S. in December.

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service updated the list it keeps on its Web site to now include Vietnam, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Brunei and Argentina. The list now totals 50 countries.

The USDA said Monday that U.S. beef exports are expected to fall by 90% in 2004 due to the fact that every major importer except Canada has banned U.S. beef because of the U.S. case of BSE.

The USDA is currently working to address foreign concerns over the BSE case found in a dairy cow in Washington state. USDA officials have said they believe recent genetic evidence that proves the cow was imported from Canada will help reopen trade.