- OTTAWA (CP) - Canadian beef
has science on its side and that's the message government officials will
be taking to Asia next week in an attempt to allay fears about mad cow
disease, Prime Minister Paul Martin said Wednesday.
-
- Confirmation came Tuesday that an American cow infected
with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was born in Alberta. It was
the second such diseased animal linked to Alberta ranches in the past eight
months and threatens to further damage an already devastated beef industry.
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- Agriculture Minister Bob Speller will travel to Japan
and South Korea - which have closed their borders to Canadian beef imports
- prior to meeting with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts Jan. 16 in Washington.
-
- "He wants to basically present the Canadian case,"
Martin said Wednesday. "And the Canadian case is: the science dictates
that these markets should be open to Canadian beef."
-
- The Alberta family whose farm has been identified as
the birthplace of the latest BSE-infected cow plans to hold a news conference
Thursday.
-
- But Canadian officials have already gone on the offensive.
-
- Speller said Canada will set up a technical team in Japan
to work with health authorities.
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- "They can look at what we're doing, what the international
peer review asked us to do and to see exactly what I believe . . . we have
some of the healthiest beef in the world."
-
- Although every cow slaughtered in Japan is tested for
BSE, Speller said he doesn't believe that would be necessary for every
head of exported Canadian cattle. Last year, Canada tested about 5,500
cattle and that is set to be greatly increased.
-
- "We're going to work with Japan and work with other
countries around the world to see what it is that they need," he said.
-
- "And I want to go first-hand and talk to them first-hand
what it is, in fact, they need to get our beef into their markets."
-
- But some provincial authorities say much more frequent
testing of Canadian cattle may be required.
-
- Alberta Premier Ralph Klein said Tuesday that his province
may move to test every cow slaughtered there, at a cost of about $30 a
head.
-
- "We probably have to do something to reassure people
that this province anyway - notwithstanding what the federal government
might or might not do - is willing to put in the highest of protocols relative
to testing," Klein said.
-
- Other western agriculture ministers were more cautious,
however.
-
- "In spite of what Mr. Klein's intent might be or
his objective might be, the reality is that the marketing of our Canadian
beef is a Canadian issue," Saskatchewan's Clay Serby said Wednesday.
-
- "And dealing with the matter of BSE is a Canadian
national issue, not an Alberta issue."
-
- Nonetheless, Serby noted that should Alberta start testing
every animal, the province is "a large beef player in Canada, and
the benchmark I expect would have to be tied around theirs."
-
- Rosann Wowchuk, Manitoba's agriculture minister, said
Canada might consider testing every cow born more than six years ago, when
the ban on ruminant feed came into effect.
-
- "But as I talk to scientists and people in my department,
even in that case they say it may not be necessary," said Wowchuk.
-
- The prime minister has already promised to press for
the reopening of the American market to Canadian beef when he meets next
week with U.S. President George Bush at a summit in Mexico.
-
- Canada's cattle industry was already reeling after the
infection of a lone beef cow in May. Losses have been estimated at more
than $1.9 billion Cdn.
-
- The results of Tuesday's testing do not appear to have
further hurt the industry. None of Canada's trading partners had served
notice by midday Wednesday that they would be imposing further restrictions
on Canadian beef.
-
- "We don't expect to hear until (Thursday) to have
a comprehensive inventory on whether there are any changes," said
Samir Ahmed of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
-
- "At this point the status quo applies to Canadian
beef."
-
- Of key interest is Mexico, which has expressed interest
in increasing its share of Canadian beef imports. An official with the
Mexican Embassy said Wednesday the country will continue to accept boneless
cuts from animals under 30 months, which are believed to be low-risk for
developing the brain wasting disease.
-
- Alberta Agriculture Minister Shirley McClellan said the
province will not send a representative with Speller on the trade mission.
-
- "Minister Speller will represent the government
side of this mission," McClellan said.
-
- "I am very comfortable with having representatives
from the Alberta industry accompany the minister on this mission. I think
that's what's required."
-
- Darcy Davis, vice-president of the Alberta Beef Producers,
said his group would likely send a delegate.
-
- "I guess the message we'd carry is to tell those
countries that our food handling system and our production systems are
fine, that we follow all the rules to keep the food safe," said Davis.
-
- "We'd also like to find out what they'd like us
to do, to find out what they'd like from us so we can regain those markets."
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