June 28, 2006 Phone: 406-672-8969; e-mail: sdodson@r-calfusa.com
Canada’s Expanded Feed Ban Regulations:
A Step in the Right Direction
Billings, Mont. – On Monday, Canada announced new feed regulations designed to help curb the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) within the Canadian cattle herd. Canada announced it would ban specified risk materials (SRMs) from all animal feed. Central to R-CALF USA’s ongoing litigation to prevent the U.S. from declaring Canada a minimal-risk country for BSE is the organization’s concern that the Canadian feed ban has not been appropriately implemented and/or that it has been insufficient.
“Although we have been calling on both Canada and the U.S. to do even more to strengthen their respective feed bans than what Canada is presently proposing, we commend Canada for taking the lead to bolster its resistance against the spread of the disease within its cattle-feeding system,” said R-CALF USA Vice President and Region VI Director Max Thornsberry, a veterinarian.
The recommendation of prohibiting the use of SRMs for all animal feeds in Canada was first recommended by the International Review Team (IRT), a group of internationally renowned BSE experts that in June 2003 evaluated Canada’s resistance to BSE, and recommended “(T)he timely and full national implementation’ of a ban on the use of specified risk materials (SRMs) in all animal feed.”
As early as December 2004, the Canadian government acknowledged the need to ban SRMs in all animal feed in a regulatory impact statement that claimed strengthening its feed ban was warranted, based on the government’s knowledge at that time that “BSE infectivity was present in Canada’s feed supply before the feed ban was implemented. . . (and) contaminated feed was likely present in commerce for a short period after the feed ban went into effect. . .”
More recently, Canada has detected three new cases of BSE-positive cattle born after its original feed ban was implemented 1997, with two of those cases in cattle born approximately three years after the ban.
“Given that the BSE agent is known to have circulated at infectious levels within the Canadian cattle herd as recently as the year 2000, we continue to urge Canada to take the next steps, including banning all blood meal and all mammalian protein in all cattle feed,” Thornsberry remarked. “The fact that three of the six Canadian cattle found to have BSE were born after Canada’s 1997 feed ban suggests that Canada’s BSE problem is far greater than originally believed, and at this time, in light of these newly disclosed cases, more stringent measures than those initially proposed are justified.
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said the organization is once again emphasizing its recommendation that Canada significantly increase its level of BSE testing so it can accurately monitor the efficacy of its improved feed ban.
“The feed ban implemented in Europe had to be upgraded four times since 1988, when after each successive upgrade, the results proved disappointing. Europe’s first feed ban was the same type both Canada and the U.S. now have – a ban only on feeding ruminant protein to ruminants,” Bullard explained. “In 1990, Europe implemented a ban on SRMs in all animal feed – the same type of ban Canada just announced. But upon finding that even this step was ineffective in controlling BSE, Europe again upgraded its mitigation measures in 1996 by banning all mammalian protein in all animal feed. Europe upgraded its feed ban yet again in 2001 by additionally banning blood meal in feed for any farmed-animal species.
“We believe that Canada, which has identified half of its BSE cases in animals born after its feed ban, should go further and adopt the more stringent measures applied in Europe and in other countries that, likewise, have identified cases born after feed bans were established,” Bullard continued.
“Another concern we have with Canada’s new regulations is that Canada only classifies the full range of SRMs in animals over 30 months (OTM) of age, when most of the world considers the full range of SRMs in cattle over 12 months of age as a risk,” he noted. “Europe defines SRMs in Canadian cattle as all central nervous system tissues in animals over 12 months of age, and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) applies the same 12-month age limit to define SRMs in countries with an undetermined risk for BSE.
“Of the world’s top nine beef importers that accept beef from countries where BSE is known to exist, seven countries require the removal of the full range of SRMs in cattle over 12 months of age, and five of these countries require SRM removal in cattle of any age,” Bullard said. “Unfortunately, the U.S. cattle industry shares in Canada’s particular BSE problem because the United States continues to commingle Canadian beef and U.S. beef without requiring a country-of-origin label (COOL) that would distinguish beef produced from Canadian cattle – cattle from a country with a higher risk profile and from a country that does not remove the full range of SRMs.”
Stronger feed ban regulations, comparable to those now in place in Europe, were urged for both the U.S. and Canada in an Aug. 13, 2004, letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from three prominent BSE experts. Noting the Agriculture Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Foreign Animal and Poultry Diseases, the experts termed the partial feed ban in place in the U.S., and until now, in Canada, as “insufficient to prevent exposure of cattle to the BSE agent,” these experts stated: “We do not feel that we can overstate the dangers from the insidious threat from these diseases and the need to control and arrest them before they spread widely.”
Thornsberry said the opinion of those experts makes it clear that R-CALF USA has followed the science on this issue consistently, while others continue to ignore it.
“While more extensive testing of the U.S. cattle herd has not found any indication that BSE infectivity was circulating in the United States after 1997 when the U.S. implemented a similar feed ban, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still should immediately bolster our domestic feed ban to prevent the possible circulation of BSE here,” Thornsberry added.
“In fact, FDA acknowledged over two years ago that improvements to the U.S. feed ban were needed, but still has not taken action,” Thornsberry said. “It is past time for FDA to protect U.S. ranchers and consumers by imposing a ban on all mammalian protein in cattle feed – including blood meal, fat sources and poultry litter.”
# # #
R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on domestic and international trade and marketing issues. R-CALF USA, a national, non-profit organization, is dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA’s membership consists primarily of cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and feedlot owners. Its members – over 18,000 strong – are located in 47 states, and the organization has over 60 local and state association affiliates, from both cattle and farm organizations. Various main street businesses are associate members of R-CALF USA. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
Canada’s Expanded Feed Ban Regulations:
A Step in the Right Direction
Billings, Mont. – On Monday, Canada announced new feed regulations designed to help curb the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) within the Canadian cattle herd. Canada announced it would ban specified risk materials (SRMs) from all animal feed. Central to R-CALF USA’s ongoing litigation to prevent the U.S. from declaring Canada a minimal-risk country for BSE is the organization’s concern that the Canadian feed ban has not been appropriately implemented and/or that it has been insufficient.
“Although we have been calling on both Canada and the U.S. to do even more to strengthen their respective feed bans than what Canada is presently proposing, we commend Canada for taking the lead to bolster its resistance against the spread of the disease within its cattle-feeding system,” said R-CALF USA Vice President and Region VI Director Max Thornsberry, a veterinarian.
The recommendation of prohibiting the use of SRMs for all animal feeds in Canada was first recommended by the International Review Team (IRT), a group of internationally renowned BSE experts that in June 2003 evaluated Canada’s resistance to BSE, and recommended “(T)he timely and full national implementation’ of a ban on the use of specified risk materials (SRMs) in all animal feed.”
As early as December 2004, the Canadian government acknowledged the need to ban SRMs in all animal feed in a regulatory impact statement that claimed strengthening its feed ban was warranted, based on the government’s knowledge at that time that “BSE infectivity was present in Canada’s feed supply before the feed ban was implemented. . . (and) contaminated feed was likely present in commerce for a short period after the feed ban went into effect. . .”
More recently, Canada has detected three new cases of BSE-positive cattle born after its original feed ban was implemented 1997, with two of those cases in cattle born approximately three years after the ban.
“Given that the BSE agent is known to have circulated at infectious levels within the Canadian cattle herd as recently as the year 2000, we continue to urge Canada to take the next steps, including banning all blood meal and all mammalian protein in all cattle feed,” Thornsberry remarked. “The fact that three of the six Canadian cattle found to have BSE were born after Canada’s 1997 feed ban suggests that Canada’s BSE problem is far greater than originally believed, and at this time, in light of these newly disclosed cases, more stringent measures than those initially proposed are justified.
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said the organization is once again emphasizing its recommendation that Canada significantly increase its level of BSE testing so it can accurately monitor the efficacy of its improved feed ban.
“The feed ban implemented in Europe had to be upgraded four times since 1988, when after each successive upgrade, the results proved disappointing. Europe’s first feed ban was the same type both Canada and the U.S. now have – a ban only on feeding ruminant protein to ruminants,” Bullard explained. “In 1990, Europe implemented a ban on SRMs in all animal feed – the same type of ban Canada just announced. But upon finding that even this step was ineffective in controlling BSE, Europe again upgraded its mitigation measures in 1996 by banning all mammalian protein in all animal feed. Europe upgraded its feed ban yet again in 2001 by additionally banning blood meal in feed for any farmed-animal species.
“We believe that Canada, which has identified half of its BSE cases in animals born after its feed ban, should go further and adopt the more stringent measures applied in Europe and in other countries that, likewise, have identified cases born after feed bans were established,” Bullard continued.
“Another concern we have with Canada’s new regulations is that Canada only classifies the full range of SRMs in animals over 30 months (OTM) of age, when most of the world considers the full range of SRMs in cattle over 12 months of age as a risk,” he noted. “Europe defines SRMs in Canadian cattle as all central nervous system tissues in animals over 12 months of age, and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) applies the same 12-month age limit to define SRMs in countries with an undetermined risk for BSE.
“Of the world’s top nine beef importers that accept beef from countries where BSE is known to exist, seven countries require the removal of the full range of SRMs in cattle over 12 months of age, and five of these countries require SRM removal in cattle of any age,” Bullard said. “Unfortunately, the U.S. cattle industry shares in Canada’s particular BSE problem because the United States continues to commingle Canadian beef and U.S. beef without requiring a country-of-origin label (COOL) that would distinguish beef produced from Canadian cattle – cattle from a country with a higher risk profile and from a country that does not remove the full range of SRMs.”
Stronger feed ban regulations, comparable to those now in place in Europe, were urged for both the U.S. and Canada in an Aug. 13, 2004, letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from three prominent BSE experts. Noting the Agriculture Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Foreign Animal and Poultry Diseases, the experts termed the partial feed ban in place in the U.S., and until now, in Canada, as “insufficient to prevent exposure of cattle to the BSE agent,” these experts stated: “We do not feel that we can overstate the dangers from the insidious threat from these diseases and the need to control and arrest them before they spread widely.”
Thornsberry said the opinion of those experts makes it clear that R-CALF USA has followed the science on this issue consistently, while others continue to ignore it.
“While more extensive testing of the U.S. cattle herd has not found any indication that BSE infectivity was circulating in the United States after 1997 when the U.S. implemented a similar feed ban, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still should immediately bolster our domestic feed ban to prevent the possible circulation of BSE here,” Thornsberry added.
“In fact, FDA acknowledged over two years ago that improvements to the U.S. feed ban were needed, but still has not taken action,” Thornsberry said. “It is past time for FDA to protect U.S. ranchers and consumers by imposing a ban on all mammalian protein in cattle feed – including blood meal, fat sources and poultry litter.”
# # #
R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on domestic and international trade and marketing issues. R-CALF USA, a national, non-profit organization, is dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA’s membership consists primarily of cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and feedlot owners. Its members – over 18,000 strong – are located in 47 states, and the organization has over 60 local and state association affiliates, from both cattle and farm organizations. Various main street businesses are associate members of R-CALF USA. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
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