November 28, 2006

 

US keen on cattle imports from Canada

 

 

The USDA has been once again trying to increase cattle and beef imports from Canada, reviving a plan that had stalled amid evidence that Canada's safeguards against mad cow disease were not working.

 

The plan had been on hold while authorities weighed the risk of importing older Canadian cattle, which carry a higher risk of having the brain wasting disease.

 

The plan has been sent back to the White House for final consideration.

 

At issue is a ban on using cattle remains in cattle feed, the primary block against the spread of BSE. The only known way for cattle to get the disease is by eating feed containing diseased cattle tissue, a practice largely outlawed in Canada and the US in 1997.

 

The cow's age, younger than previously infected animals, suggests a shorter incubation period for the disease, meaning higher chance of infection. Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials have maintained the incubation period in the cow was still within a normal range of three to eight years.

 

US imports about 12 percent of beef, with Canada accounting for nearly a quarter of them. Canada shipped US$1.2 billion worth of beef and veal to US markets last year.

 

Canada found its first case of mad cow disease in May 2003, prompting the US to impose a blanket ban against Canadian cattle and beef. The first US case of the disease was found in December 2003 in an infected cow from Canada.

 

Though imports of beef from younger cattle resumed, a court battle with a Western ranchers' group kept the border from reopening to live cattle until July 2005. Since then, imports have been restricted to animals younger than 30 months.

 

The US has since found two more cases, in native-born animals in Texas and Alabama while Canada has found eight cases in all.

 

Canadian officials have blamed infections on cross-contamination at feed mills, as cattle remains have been allowed in food for other livestock and pets. Canada recently announced it would ban cattle tissues known to carry the disease from all feed.