USDA considers additional cattle imports from Canada

USDA considers additional cattle imports from Canada The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has proposed rules to increase the allowable beef imports from Canada and other countries considered to be low risk for the introduction of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or 'mad cow' disease.
   The proposal expands on a previous rule published by the agency in January 2005, which allowed the import of cattle under 30 months of age for delivery to U.S. slaughterhouses and feedlots. The agency now proposes to allow the import of:
   * Live cattle and other bovines for any use born on or after March 1, 1999, the date Canada began enforcing animal byproduct-based feed for cattle.
   * Blood products derived from bovines, collected under certain conditions.
   * Casings and part of the small intestine derived from bovines.
   The USDA said it conducted a thorough risk assessment following guidelines issued by the World Organization for Animal Health. This assessment evaluated the entire risk pathway, including mitigation processes in both Canada and the United States. The assessment also considered the possibility of BSE exposure in the United States from beef imports.
   'If an infected cow from Canada were to be imported into the United States, in order for that bovine to transmit infection to a U.S. cow a series of additional safeguards would have to fail or be breached,' said John Clifford, USDA's chief veterinary officer, in a press conference on Thursday.
   'Even if by small chance BSE-infected material were to make it past the first mitigation, it is highly unlikely that the material would eventually infect a U.S. animal,' he said.
   USDA will publish the proposed rule in the Jan. 9 Federal Register. 'We encourage the public to be a part of our decision-making process by providing feedback through submission of public comments,' Clifford said.