From foodconsumer.org
USDA Ignores Over 60 Scientific Recommendations
By R-Calf USA News
Jun 14, 2005, 18:58
(Billings, Mont.) – The real crisis in the cattle and beef industries is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) continued efforts to lower safety standards and potentially allow the spread of mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) from Canada into the United States.
“U.S. cattle producers will face adverse consequences if we ignore the warning signs, as countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Canada did when BSE was first detected, and as USDA would like to do now,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. “The USDA wants to change the subject from herd health and beef safety to the economics of cattle and beef prices, but it does so at the expense of independent U.S. cattle producers.”
Bullard represented R-CALF USA at USDA’s BSE Roundtable held last week at the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus. The morning session focused on animal health and food safety, while the afternoon session was geared toward economics and industry infrastructure.
Industry leaders representing various trade associations discussed BSE or mad cow disease risk mitigation measures USDA proposed in its Final Rule that seeks to lift the ban on Canadian cattle and additional beef products.
“U.S. beef is safe, and R-CALF wants to make certain our government adheres to policies that keep it that way,” Bullard said. “The science that tells us how to protect our domestic herd and our beef supply is out there, and USDA should not continue to ignore it just because of political pressure to re-establish trade.
More than 50 countries closed their borders to U.S. beef after a BSE-positive Canadian cow was discovered in Washington state in December 2003. Canada also has had other cases of BSE: in 1993, in an animal imported from the United Kingdom; a case announced on May 20, 2003; and two cases announced in January. Because of political and trade pressure from Canada, USDA has tried to lift or relax the ban since August 2003. R-CALF has blocked each attempt in court with the argument that the U.S. is not requiring Canada to take adequate BSE or mad cow disease safety precautions.
At the roundtable, R-CALF USA released an 11-page report that shows USDA and Canada have dismissed or ignored over 60 scientific recommendations by leading scientists and experts to safeguard against the transmission of BSE or mad cow disease.
“If USDA would rewrite its Final Rule, following the scientific recommendations listed in this report, the agency would have the appropriate safeguards in place to allow trade with Canada to resume,” said Bullard. “USDA’s Final Rule falls well short of safe. This rule must be rewritten with safeguards we suggest in the acronym ‘S.T.R.I.C.T.’”
S.T.R.I.C.T. stands for:
S – Stop the spread of BSE by eliminating all pathways of the BSE agent.
T – Test enough cattle to establish the prevalence of BSE to determine whether the disease is on the rise or actually decreasing, and to determine the effectiveness of Canada’s feed ban.
R- Remove all Specified Risk Materials (SRMs) as is done in European countries and other countries affected by BSE.
I – Implement Country-of-Origin Labeling to protect the U.S. cattle industry in the event that additional BSE cases are discovered in Canada, and to afford U.S. consumers the right to choose between U.S. and Canadian beef.
C – Close feed ban loopholes and ensure feed ban compliance.
T – Then, and only then, resume trade with Canada.
Examples from the report of recommendations made by highly recognized scientists and experts from inside and outside North America are below. (See full report at www.r-calfusa.com under “BSE-Litigation” link.)
1) From June 16, 2003, memo by USDA’s Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) Working Group, composed of leading BSE experts:
“Significant trade (with Canada) in the commodities currently prohibited because of BSE should not resume unless and until: An assessment is completed to determine whether the BSE risk mitigation steps applied by Canada are sufficient. These should include: SRM removal from human and animal food (and) Dedicated rendering facilities and mills for processing of ruminant byproducts…. If additional BSE cases are identified in Canada additional steps will be necessary.” Less than two months later, USDA decided to lift BSE restrictions on Canada without implementing these recommendations. Canada has since reported three additional BSE cases.
2) Canada convened an international expert team, including Swiss Professors U. Kihm and Dr. D. Heim and U.S. Professor W. Hueston, made recommendations in June 2003:
“Adjustments to surveillance approaches are warranted in the new environment in order to determine the current prevalence and to judge the effectiveness of measures implemented over time ... Ideally all cattle of these high risk populations should be tested.” Canada tests fewer cattle than any BSE-affected country and does not test all high-risk cattle.
3) Linda Detwiler, DVM, former USDA employee, former chair and member of USDA’s TSE Working Group, now a TSE risk management expert, wrote in August 2004:
“We in North America could do this experiment all over again, waiting for each new warning before adding more stringency to our control measures, or we can benefit from the British experience and take decisive measures now to arrest any further development of the underlying epidemic that is implicit in the two BSE cases discovered to date.” In January 2005, Canada reported two more cases.
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R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on domestic and international trade and marketing issues. R-CALF USA, a national, non-profit organization, is dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry.
R-CALF USA’s membership consists primarily of cow-calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and feedlot owners. Its members – over 18,000 strong – are located in 48 states, and the organization has over 60 local and state association affiliates, from both cattle and farm organizations. Various main street businesses are associate members of R-CALF USA. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
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