MAD COW DISEASE

Burns, Baucus push resolution to extend restriction on Canadian cattle imports Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., on Thursday became the 10th senator to sign a resolution to overthrow a rule that will allow imports of Canadian cattle on March 7. Meanwhile, Japan's deputy consul-general said he expects his country to end its ban on U.S. beef by summer. The resolution of disapproval Burns signed was introduced Monday. If passed, it will nullify the U.S. Department of Agriculture's plan to designate Canada as a minimal-risk region for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly called mad cow disease....
Canada, U.S. Urged to Test All Older Cattle for BSE Canada and the United States should consider testing all cattle over the age of 30 months for mad cow disease to ensure they find all cases of the brain-wasting disease, a French expert said on Thursday. The two countries would then have to destroy only the infective material, such as brain tissue and spinal cords, that can spread bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, said Jean-Philippe Deslys, research director for the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). That would assure consumers and export markets that the meat is safe, he added. Deslys was in North America to discuss research reported in January in The Lancet medical journal that showed one infected cow can contaminate an estimated 490 to 1,400 animals....
U.S. approved import of questionable meat The Agriculture Department allowed Canada to ship 42,000 pounds of questionable meat into the United States despite restrictions in place since the discovery of mad cow disease in Canada, department investigators said Wednesday. The investigation resulted from a federal judge's ruling last April preventing the department from expanding Canadian beef imports. The agency's inspector general faulted agriculture officials for allowing more kinds of Canadian meat products into the United States before the judge's ruling. Such "permit creep" let in products that were at greater risk for the disease, the report said. The cattlemen's group that won last year's ruling said the report bolstered its case. The group is suing again to block the expansion of trade with Canada. Attorneys general from Montana, North Dakota, Connecticut, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota and West Virginia have filed legal papers in support....
Japan to drop beef ban, official says Japan will lift a 13-month ban and begin importing American beef this year, and possibly as soon as this summer, Japan's Deputy Consul-General in Denver said Tuesday. "This issue also will be solved in a short time," Kenichi Kimiya said. "Many Japanese people are expecting U.S. beef." Japan has not set a firm date to resume U.S. beef imports, he said....