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U.S. Beef Exports Grind to Halt on Mad Cow
Tue December 30, 2003 10:27 AM ET
By Julie Vorman WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
The Bush administration faced growing political pressure over America's first case of mad cow disease Tuesday after some opposition Democrats urged it to ban sick cattle from the human food supply.
More than two dozen countries stopped buying U.S. beef since the first case was diagnosed last week in a sick cow sent to slaughter in Washington state, bringing the $3.2 billion U.S. beef export business to a halt.
With the Republican Bush seeking a second four-year term next year, two Democratic lawmakers Monday backed a Senate proposal to safeguard against the spread of the disease by banning U.S. "downer" cattle, those too sick or injured to walk, from the human food supply.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, urged the administration to back an amendment approved by the Senate last month -- but dropped in the final bill by the House of Representatives -- that would prohibit U.S. slaughter plants from using downer cattle in beef for human consumption.
In Washington state Monday, a state dairy group said the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) could order the slaughter of the cattle herd that included the cow with the disease if officials found that other cows were infected.
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"It may not be a situation where the entire herd is taken, but it is a possibility," said Steve Matzen, general manager of the Washington State Dairy Council. "But we'll probably rely on the USDA as they make those calls based on science."
FATAL DISEASE
A Democratic presidential hopeful, Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich, said he would introduce legislation next month to ban downer cattle from the human food supply.
Presidential candidate Howard Dean has also criticized Republicans for killing the Senate proposal to ban U.S. meatpackers from using downer cattle in the human food supply.
Mad cow, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is a fatal disease that destroys the brains of infected cattle. Humans can contract a form of the disease known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease by eating tissue from the brains, spinal cords or central nervous systems of infected animals.
At least 137 people died from the human variant after mad cow disease struck herds in Britain and Europe a decade ago.
U.S. officials have repeatedly said there is no risk to consumers from the recall of 10,000 pounds of beef linked to the infected cow and 19 others slaughtered on Dec. 9. Consumer groups have said the Bush administration was considering several possible regulatory changes to boost consumer confidence, in addition to increased testing.
In addition to the political fallout, White House officials struggled with the economic impact of the disease just as the U.S. economy was showing signs of strength.
USDA officials reported more evidence Monday the infected Holstein cow in Washington state was born in Canada in April 1997, a link the USDA hopes will reassure U.S. trade partners.
But the growing evidence of a Canadian link failed to persuade Japan to reconsider its ban on importing U.S. beef. Officials in Japan, which bought more than $1 billion in U.S. beef, veal and variety meats last year, refused to discuss lifting the ban with U.S. trade officials in Tokyo Monday.
U.S. livestock markets looked set for another grim day Tuesday after cattle futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed sharply lower Monday, their third straight day of steep losses. Prices have lost about 10 percent since the USDA's mad cow announcement last Tuesday.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python (Alquds, 1/25/03. |
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