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U.S. won't take meat from older cattle
WASHINGTON (AP)--The U.S. Department of Agriculture will not allow meat from older cattle when it expands U.S. imports of Canadian beef on March 7, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns said Feb. 9.
The United States had been planning on that date to reopen the border for import of meat from animals of any age and import of live cattle younger than 30 months. Now, Johanns has instead extended the existing ban on importing older beef. The ban on bringing in older cattle also remains in force.
Two new cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy turned up last month in Canada after the Bush administration decided to reopen the border, and U.S. cattlemen are suing to stop trade from expanding.
Lawmakers and Johanns himself questioned whether it would have been contradictory to allow meat, but not live cattle, from older animals, which are considered more vulnerable to BSE. U.S. meatpackers worried it would flood their market with cheaper Canadian cuts of beef.
"Our ongoing investigations into the recent finds of BSE in Canada in animals over 30 months are not complete," Johanns said in a statement. "Therefore, I feel it is prudent to delay the effective date for allowing imports of meat from animals 30 months and over."
Johanns said he remained confident that resuming trade in live cattle would not harm U.S. consumers and livestock.
He directed USDA officials to start moving toward lifting all restrictions on Canadian beef.
"As always, decisions will be made based on the latest scientific information and with the protection of public and animal health the highest priority," Johanns said.
The Feb. 9 decision drew criticism from western ranchers and others who want the existing import restrictions kept in place. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-SD, called the decision a Band-Aid solution to a much larger problem.
"The right course of action would be to scrap this rule entirely until it has been proven that Canada's BSE problems are under control," Johnson said.
Johanns met in the morning Feb. 9 with Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Andrew Mitchell.
Johanns told reporters afterward that USDA inspectors are still in Canada investigating compliance with a 1997 ban on cattle remains in feed, which is believed to spread the disease. So far, he said, problems seem confined to record keeping.
The United States banned all cattle and meat from Canada in May 2003 after the discovery of a cow infected with BSE. Officials have since allowed imports of meat, as long as it comes from animals younger than 30 months.
The USDA followed international health guidelines in choosing the 30-month cutoff.
A form of BSE, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, can infect humans who eat contaminated meat. More than 150 people have died from the disease, mostly in Britain.
Date: 2/24/05
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