Guest columnist
Americans shouldn't have a beef with Canada

By Marvin Wodinsky
Special to The Times

	Marvin Wodinsky
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In the short period since the case of a single Holstein cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) became known around the world, Americans and Canadians have learned just how seamlessly interconnected the beef industry is between our two countries.

That industry has been, and remains, rigorously monitored on both sides of the border to protect the health of all consumers and to safeguard against contaminated feed ever entering the food chain.

The 6-1/2-year-old dairy cow that developed BSE was born in Alberta, before both countries instituted a feed ban in 1997 to prevent the contamination of animal feed with ruminant byproducts. The Holstein later was sold as part of a herd and crossed the border to ranch operations in Washington state. The journey of this now infamous dairy cow was, in fact, typical of what has become an integrated North American beef industry.

Over the past five years, 7.3 million live cattle have moved across the border between Canada and the United States, with 6.3 million exported from Canada to the United States and 1 million coming into Canada from the United States. There is also significant two-way trade in animal feed.

There remain a number of questions that need to be answered in this current BSE investigation, notably how and when the cow became infected. Scientific experts in Canada and the United States continue to look into these matters with the ongoing support of Canadian industry, provincial and territorial agricultural experts, and their counterparts here in the United States.

At the same time, Canada is moving forward with new measures aimed at addressing the future risk of BSE. These actions build on the series of aggressive BSE risk-mitigation measures that Canada has put in place over the years. As always, our prime objective is ensuring the safety of consumers, both in Canada and around the world, and to restore international confidence in our nation's beef products.

On Jan. 6, Canadian Agriculture Minister Bob Speller announced that there would be:

• Increased consultation with industry and trading partners on feed and surveillance measures in Canada;

• Enhanced measures for identification, tracking and tracing in Canada; and

• An increase in the level of surveillance in the animal-inspection system, with a particular emphasis on increasing the amount of BSE testing done on higher-risk animals.

Canada remains committed to working in close collaboration with the United States to protect the public's health and the health of livestock in any future policy changes that may be considered. Our federal government also will be consulting with provinces and stakeholders on implementing these changes.

Canada also is continuing to make a case that the U.S. border should reopen to Canadian live cattle, given the sound and scientific evidence it has presented to the international community. On Thursday and Friday, senior Canadian officials will be meeting with their counterparts from Mexico and with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman.

Canada is seeking to develop, with the United States, a North American approach to the removal of risk materials from feed that reflects the integrated nature of the cattle industry in North America.

Since the early 1990s, Canada and the United States have taken aggressive steps to minimize the risk of BSE. In fact, all of the scientific risk assessments to date demonstrate that the risk of BSE is extremely low and virtually identical in both countries. This has been confirmed by the international panel that reviewed Canada's investigation into the BSE case in May 2003, the Harvard Risk Assessment (a study that examined the prevalence of BSE), and assessments previously carried out by the European Union and Canada.

Marvin Wodinsky is the acting consul general of the Canadian Consulate General of Seattle (www.seattle.gc.ca).

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company