The most recent case of BSE in Canada has prompted the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) to encourage Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to keep the Canadian border closed for breeding animals.
NMPF said that there are still questions about the effectiveness of the feed ban designed to prevent the introduction and spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. Even though Canada has prohibited the feeding of mammalian tissues to its cattle since 1997 (as has the U.S.), there have been seven cases of BSE in animals born since then, including five born after the date that the USDA has determined that Canada has been effectively enforcing the feed ban, March 1, 1999. The USDA is considering allowing animals born after that date to be exported to the U.S. for breeding purposes
All five of those recent BSE cases “could have been exported to the U.S. under the rule that the USDA is about to adopt,” Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF said. Because Canada’s own government estimates that it will detect more cases of BSE in the next decade, NMPF believes that the USDA should not finalize regulations to allow animals for breeding or herd replacement purposes from Canada.
NMPF does not oppose importation of Canadian cattle for direct slaughter purposes, but the USDA “should not allow importation of live animals that could reside in the U.S. cattle population,” the letter said. “Both domestic and export markets for U.S. producers will be disrupted” if additional BSE cases are discovered in the U.S., and those disruptions will have significant negative economic impacts that “will be borne by U.S. producers,” Kozak said.