Organization for Competitive Markets
P.O. Box 6486
Lincoln, NE 68506
Date: January 12, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Stumo, 860.379.6199
OCM Statement on Latest Canadian Case of BSE
Lincoln, NE ~ The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM)
President Keith Mudd, Missouri, made the following statement after Canadian
officials announced on January 11 that a fourth native case of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) had been diagnosed in a seven-year old
Charolais beef cow in the province of Alberta.
"In light of recent events, OCM is calling upon the
U.S. Department of Agriculture to withdraw its final rule seeking to resume
imports of live Canadian cattle and expanded boxed beef products from Canada.
OCM is also calling upon USDA and Congress to locate and permanently mark any
Canadian cattle already residing in the U.S. to segregate those animals from
the human food supply and animal feed chain until they can be tested for BSE.
Subsequent to USDA’ s announcement on December 29 of its
final rule, Canada has identified two additional cases of BSE in the nation’s
cattle herd. During the past year Canada has tested less than 25,000 animals
for BSE. The most recent case was born in March 1998, eight months after the
implementation of the ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban in Canada, suggesting there
are serious issues surrounding enforcement of Canada’s feed ban. USDA’s new
rule would permit the importation of not only live cattle under 30 months of
age, but beef derived from cattle of any age.
The only prudent course of action for USDA is to withdraw
its final rule until questions can be answered about the prevalence of BSE in
Canada’s cattle population, and through an audit of Canada’s feed ban
compliance. These most recent cases demonstrate that the prevalence of BSE in
Canada, and the risks associated, are far greater than USDA estimated. The
primary mitigating factors in eradicating BSE are through the enforcement of
ruminant-to-ruminant feed bans and historically conservative import standards.
Now is not the time to adjust or abandon those standards at the altar of free
trade. Our domestic cattle markets are at stake, as well as our well-earned
consumer confidence here in the U.S.
Additionally, before international cattle and beef trade is
resumed with Canada we must have a mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL)
program in place in the U.S. to allow consumers to make informed purchases at
the retail meat case. It is abundantly clear that the origin of agricultural
products matters.
There are simply too many unanswered questions to allow
Canadian imports of any kind into the U.S."
The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) is a multidisciplinary, nonprofit group of farmers, ranchers, academics, attorneys and policy makers dedicated to reclaiming the agricultural marketplace for independent farmers, ranchers and rural communities. OCM helps lead the Cattlemen’s Competitive Market Project which is a voluntary contribution program funding the effort to increase demand for U.S. cattle and beef in open and competitive markets.