The USDA announced the lifting of its ban on Canadian cattle that are 30 months of age or older, starting Nov. 19.
The U.S. has banned the older, or “cull cattle,” since Canada reported its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in May 2003. The U.S. eased restrictions on cattle under 30 months old, which are the bulk of Canadian exports, in July 2005 because those younger cattle are believed to be far less likely to be infected with BSE.
But the USDA now believes that even if infected cattle come across the border from Canada, the protections in place here are sufficient to keep the disease from spreading in herds as well as out of the human food supply. The final rule unveiled Friday also lifts the U.S. ban on Canadian beef that has been produced from older cattle slaughtered there.
The forecast for the number of older Canadian cattle to be sent for slaughter in the U.S. – usually because they are too decrepit to produce milk anymore – was lowered substantially Friday, USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford said. The new forecast shows 75,000 head entering the U.S. in 2008, but predicts that amount will rise to 161,000 head per year by 2012. A previous USDA report predicted an average of about 610,000 head coming down from Canada yearly if the ban was lifted.
There are some U.S. cow-slaughter operations that specialize in processing older beef and dairy cattle. The U.S. was importing about 250,000 head of older Canadian cattle each year before the U.S. banned them, according to the American Meat Institute.