DORGAN PRAISES NEW USDA RULES TO PREVENT FUTURE MAD COW CASES

Senator also calls for continued ban on live Canadian cattle imports

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or  Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551

(WASHINGTON, DC) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Tuesday praised new rules announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) aimed at strengthening the firewalls in place against the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or Mad Cow Disease. He said Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman needs to go further, however, and significantly delay re-opening the U.S.-Canadian border to live cattle imports.

In October, the USDA proposed new rules to allow live-cattle imports to resume and invited public comment, but the Department announced later that it would not make its decision until after completion of the investigation into the how a Canadian cow in Washington State contracted Mad Cow Disease. On Tuesday, the USDA said that the investigation is winding down, so a decision on the question of imports could be only weeks away – a decision that could be disastrous for the industry just as consumer confidence is being restored, Dorgan noted. “It is still too early to resume live cattle imports from Canada,” Dorgan said. “Specifically, the Secretary needs to extend the public comment period on the proposal to resume live cattle imports.”

The new rules issued by the USDA Tuesday include a ban on material from “downer” or sick cattle, and high-risk cattle parts from entering the chain of food for human consumption. They also include a ban on certain animal products in ruminant feeds; new measures to prevent beef contamination; and the development of improved diagnostic testing to identify prohibited materials.

“I urged the Secretary of Agriculture to take many of these steps long ago,” Dorgan said. “They have been a long time coming, but they are the right steps. The USDA’s action will make clear to consumers and our foreign trading partners alike that the single animal found to have BSE was an aberration. These are important steps toward assuring full confidence in American beef.”

“We need to be careful, however, that we don’t take a step backwards at the same time by prematurely re-opening the border to live Canadian cattle,” Dorgan continued. “Until we know more, the importation of Canadian cattle continues to put the U.S. cattle industry at risk.”

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