November 8, 2013
The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) recently announced a final rule that will align the Agency’s import
regulations for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or “mad cow disease”)
with international standards, according to a USDA news release available here.
Dr. John Clifford, APHIS Deputy Administrator and Chief
Veterinary Officer, said, “This action will bring our BSE import regulations in
line with international standards, which call for countries to base their trade
policies on the actual risk of animal or products harboring the disease…Making
these changes will further demonstrate to our trading partners our commitment
to international standards and sound science, and we are hopeful it will help
open new markets and remove remaining restrictions on U.S. products.”
The new rule would abandon the tougher standards USDA
adopted in 1998, which banned imports of boneless beef from countries with mad
cow cases, according to an article by DTN Progressive Farmer available here. Food
Safety News reports that the U.S. will potentially open its markets to beef
from the European Union, which have been restricted since 1998. The U.S. imports about 8.1 percent of its beef
supply, mostly from Canada and Mexico.
About 10 percent of U.S. beef is exported.
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Scott
George said the rule would be integral to expanding international beef trade
and called it “great news for the cattle industry.”
Dr. Michael Hansen, senior staff scientist at Consumers
Union, said that the new rule could put consumers and U.S. cattle at risk. Hansen cited a study that found about one in
2,000 people in the United Kingdom were silent carriers of variant
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of BSE. The study is available here.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairwoman of the Senate
Agriculture Committee, applauded USDA’s action saying, “This effort is crucial
to breaking down the countries’ unfounded trade barriers and re-opening trade
markets that are closed to U.S. beef.” A
press release from Sen. Stabenow’s office is available here.
For more information on food safety and international
trade, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here
and here.
