040127 Canada Says Mass Cattle Testing Not Needed

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said he did not support testing all cattle for mad cow disease as a way to pry open international beef trade after the discovery of two infected animals that originated in the country.

In his first trip to the center of North America's mad cow crisis since a second case was detected late last year, Martin said food safety would not improve if all Canadian cattle slaughtered were tested for the brain- wasting disease.

"I will give you the answer that has been given to me by the industry and by the scientists, and the answer that I am given is no (to mass testing)," Martin told reporters after touring an Edmonton, Alberta, veterinary lab.

Canada, which detected its first home-grown case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, last May, already has stringent detection methods and consumers should be confident about the quality of the beef, he said.

A dairy cow in Washington state was confirmed with mad cow disease in December, forcing numerous countries to slap bans on U.S. beef. But that animal has been traced back to Alberta, Canada's biggest cattle-producing province and normally a major supplier of live animals and beef to the United States.

In August, the U.S. Agriculture Department allowed trade in low-risk beef products to resume and Canadian producers were looking forward to shipments of young live cattle restarting early this year when the second case rocked the industry.

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has ordered a cost analysis of mass testing, but his agriculture minister, Shirley McClellan, and beef industry officials said such a move would be only an expensive last resort to comfort trading partners, as domestic consumers were not demanding it.

The crisis that has hammered North America's beef industry was a major topic during Martin's first meeting as prime minister with U.S. President George W. Bush last week, although Bush gave no timeline for when full trade might resume.

"I think that it was a very important statement by President Bush that in fact he regards this as a North American industry and that he feels that the solution must be science-based," Martin said. Mexican President Vicente Fox also expressed confidence in Canadian surveillance, he said.

"I think there is a very positive feeling towards Canada and what we have done and I don't think there is any doubt that we're making progress -- not as much progress and not as quickly as we'd like to see -- but we are making progress."

Alberta's McClellan has been adamant that there is no scientific value in testing all cattle, especially those less than 30 months of age. They were born long after Canada and the United States banned feeding animal protein to cattle, a practice scientists believe causes mad cow disease.

But how much testing will be necessary in North America is still an open question and will depend on what major trading partners demand, McClellan said.

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