| 9/11/2003 US Months Away From Importing Canadian Cattle - 9/10 USDA At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, there was talk among traders on Wednesday that USDA and Canadian officials had discussed allowing some Canadian feeder cattle into the United States. But USDA spokeswoman Julie Quick said there were no such meetings. Quick said lifting the ban on live Canadian cattle must first go through a formal rule-making process. The USDA has yet to take the first step in the process, which is publishing a notice in the Federal Register for public comment. The proposed rules were expected soon, but USDA would not elaborate. USDA Chief of Staff Dale Moore told reporters on Monday the department wanted to be sure that Canada had the appropriate safeguards in place before allowing cattle imports. Last month, the USDA issued its first import permits for "low risk" Canadian beef products since a cow in Alberta was found to have the disease on May 20. Sue Challis, U.S. Customs Service spokeswoman, said the United States on Wednesday imported its first shipments of Canadian boxed beef. Two shipments totalling about 80,000 pounds of boneless beef products were imported through Sweetgrass, Montana, the closest border crossing to Alberta, she said. Out of a hundred border crossings between the two countries, only 26 are designated for Canadian beef trade, Challis said. The brain-wasting disease, which can be transferred to humans who eat contaminated meat, is linked to the deaths of more than 100 people in Europe. The United States has never had a documented case of mad cow disease. Related Link: http://www.usda.gov |
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