Nebraska Farmers Union

1305 Plum Street • Lincoln, NE 68502 www.nebraskafarmersunion.org Contact John Hansen Office: 402-476-8815, Fax: 402-476-8859, Cell: 402-580-8815 john@nebraskafarmersunion.org

March 30, 2010 For Immediate Release

NEFU Joins 75 Organizations Urging USDA to Strengthen BSE Protections

Washington, D.C. Nebraska Farmers Union (NEFU) joined 75 other organizations representing millions of Americans sending formal correspondence to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to request that the agency immediately strengthen protections against Canada’s ongoing problems with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease.

The groups’ letter came after Canada’s 18^th case of BSE in a Canadian-born animal earlier this month and the 11^th case of BSE in a Canadian cow that met USDA’s age requirements to enter the United States. “It is abundantly clear that USDA’s relaxed import standards continue to put U.S. beef consumers and U.S. cattle producers at risk,” said John Hansen, NEFU President.

The letter stated, “Mr. Secretary, above all other considerations, the health and safety of the people of the United States and United States’ livestock must come first – first before trade and first before international relations. Your agency’s current BSE policies and regulations compromise directly this health and safety priority and we, the undersigned, urge you to take immediate action to, at the very least, restore for the United States the protections against the introduction and spread of BSE that were in place before USDA began to systematically dismantle its BSE-related border restrictions. We respectfully implore you to, as a first step, immediately overturn the OTM Rule.”

The border import standards issue impacts both U.S. herd health and U.S. beef consumers, and has been simmering since 2005 when USDA first relaxed U.S. safeguards against BSE. In 2007, USDA further relaxed safeguards with its OTM (over-30-month) Rule, which allows the importation of Canadian cattle born after March 1, 1999, and beef from Canadian cattle of any age despite the fact that Canada had already detected three BSE-positive animals born after March 1, 1999. “The March 10, 2010 BSE positive confirmation of Canada’s 11th BSE-positive animal born after March 1, 1999 should compel USDA and Congress to immediately revisit the border import standards,” said John Hansen. “Why would USDA continue to support border standards that would allow the importation of BSE positive cattle from Canada? 11 confirmed Canadian cases are 10 cases more than necessary to tighten the standard.”

The letter also documented a dozen cases between April 4, 2008 and January 15, 2010 of U.S. meat product recalls because of USDA meat inspection protocol violations, all of which could have exposed U.S. beef consumers to BSE had it been present. The letter further documented repeated domestic feed manufacturing control failures that could have exposed U.S. beef herds to BSE had it been present.

Hansen said “On the issues of food safety and protecting the health of the U.S. cattle herd, an ounce of prevention is worth many pounds of cure.” He said the sign on letter documented:

1. USDA’s Canada border regulations do not adequately protect either U.S. meat producers or consumers from potentially BSE positive animals, and should be substantially tightened.

2. USDA’s meat inspection system is not a 100% fail safe system because it occasionally allows potentially BSE positive animal parts into the domestic food system.

3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulation and enforcement of domestic feed manufacturing is not a 100% fail safe system, and does not always protect the integrity of the domestic feed supply, putting beef producers and consumers both at risk.”

Nebraska Farmers Union is the state’s second largest and oldest general farm organization representing over 5,000 farm and ranch families and the rural communities they live in. The mission of Nebraska Farmers Union is to improve the economic well being and quality of life of family farmers and ranchers, and the rural communities they live in.

(30)