050136 USDA Sticks With March Date on Canadian Cattle

Denver, CO - The U.S. Department of Agriculture is sticking with March 7 to restart imports of Canadian beef, although some members of Congress are urging a wait-and-see attitude until more is known about mad cow disease in Canada, a USDA official said on Friday.

"March 7 is the date as we speak," USDA Undersecretary Bill Hawks told reporters after addressing a conference in Denver held by R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America.

Beef and cattle shipments into the United States were cut off after the discovery of Canada's first native case of the fatal bovine disease in May 2003. Earlier this month, Canada reported two more cases within days of a USDA proposal to allow entry of younger Canadian cattle beginning in March.

Because of the recent cases, the R-CALF group has sued the USDA in federal court in Montana to stop the March 7 imports.

The group wants the USDA to conduct more studies before allowing Canadian imports and argues that reopening the border too soon could allow infected cattle to enter the U.S. system and harm consumer confidence.

The case of BSE found in the United States in late December 2003 was a dairy cow born in the Canadian province of Alberta.

Hawks said the agency has been hearing a range of opinion from members of Congress about the March 7 date. "Some members in Congress are saying, take another look at this," Hawks said.

The USDA says there are adequate safeguards in both countries to prevent the spread of the fatal bovine disease.

Congress can overturn the USDA's March 7 date if both houses of Congress vote on a joint resolution to do so.

Next week, the USDA will send a group to investigate the Canadian mad cow issue that will look at the new cases as well as evaluate Canada's animal feed system. Hawks said staff from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will accompany the USDA team.

Both Canada and the United States ban the use of cattle parts in cattle feed and require meatpackers to remove from carcasses the brains, spinal columns and central nervous tissue considered most at risk of being infected with mad cow disease.

Scientists say the disease is caused by malformed proteins called prions. People can contract a human version of the disease by eating food containing prions.

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