Easing The Beef Ban

Mexico and Canada, two of the most important importers of U.S. beef products, may act shortly to ease restrictions over American beef following concerns over the first detected case of BSE, so-called mad cow disease, in Washington last December.

The USDA’s chief economist, Ken Collins, predicted the barriers will come down quickly once his department outlines actions that will be taken to safeguard the U.S. food supply.

Currently, the beef bans work both ways. The United States continues to prohibit importation of live cattle from Canada, where BSE also has been detected.

Foreign bans on U.S. beef have cost the country about 90 percent of its export sales, which account for about 10 percent of U.S. production.

Japan, another major importer of U.S. beef that imposed a ban following the BSE detection in Washington, has stated it will not resume imports until the U.S. begins testing all cattle for the disease --- a request USDA Secretary Ann Veneman claims is not backed up by science.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at February 26, 2004 08:36 AM | TrackBack