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USDA withdrew its proposed rule that would allow cattle
over 30 months of age into the U.S. market because it felt
that it would be inappropriate to continue forward with
the rule-making process while it was still investigating
a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Canada that
affected an animal born long after a protective feed ban
was imposed.
"The proposed rule is on hold until we know how this animal
was exposed to infection," said USDA spokesman Ed Loyd.
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has sent
an epidemiologist to Canada to assist with the investigation
and report back to the agency, he said, "and we need those
results" to decide whether the proposed rule is still appropriate
from a scientific point of view.
"We remain committed to returning to normal trade with our
partners based on sound science," Loyd said.
If nothing new is discovered in the investigation of the
Canadian animal, which was born more than four years after
a ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban was introduced in 1997,
the rule may be resubmitted to the Office of Management
and Budget. That is the final regulatory step before it
is published for public comment, after which it may be published
as a final rule.
Canada still suffers from a glut of cull cattle, mainly
older dairy animals that are no longer productive and would
normally be slaughtered for meat. The building of new slaughter
facilities has eased the burden somewhat, but most new facilities
are in the western part of the country, thousands of miles
from large dairy herds in Ontario and Quebec. These animals
would have normally been sent to slaughter in the eastern
United States, and the ban on imports of older cattle is
hurting both Canadian farmers and U.S. processors. |
