Farmers' $20B mad-cow court case proceeds
CANADA - Farmers wanting to sue a feed grain company and the federal government in a class-action lawsuit involving mad cow disease can go ahead, an Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled. The farmers allege Ridley Inc. and Ottawa were negligent...

New excellence network to study prion diseases
CANADA - A new network of centres of excellence, called PrioNet Canada, has been established with $35 million funding over the next seven years by the federal government. The centre will pool the collective expertise of Canadian prion researchers...

Bison industry bounces back after BSE crisis
CANADA - Canadian ranchers who hung on to their bison during the BSE crisis are now reaping the rewards in a big way. Bison were lumped in with cattle when the U.S. border slammed shut to ruminants after mad cow disease was detected in an Alberta...

Cattle group loses case to re-hear Canadian beef case
CANADA - Cattle producer group R-CALF in the United States has again been unsuccessful in its attempt to have a case against Canadian beef imports re-heard. The border was re-opened in July this year but the group is arguing the risk of BSE...

Canadian Beef Industry Stronger in Wake of BSE
CANADA - A stronger Canadian dollar and new and expanded packing plants have provided the Canadian beef industry with an unexpected result: strength rather than weakness in the wake of the nation's BSE crisis. By 2007, industry officials expect Canadian...

Canadian Beef Industry Stronger in Wake of BSE
CANADA - A stronger Canadian dollar and new and expanded packing plants have provided the Canadian beef industry with an unexpected result: strength rather than weakness in the wake of the nation's BSE crisis. By 2007, industry officials expect...

Canadian Cattle Industry Finds Upside To BSE Crisis
CANADA - After two years of anxiety and uncertainty, cattle producers across the country are gearing up for a brighter fall in the firm belief that the mad-cow crisis has strengthened their industry at home. The U.S. border recently opened to young...

Canadian Cattle Industry Finds Upside To BSE Crisis
CANADA - After two years of anxiety and uncertainty, cattle producers across the country are gearing up for a brighter fall in the firm belief that the mad-cow crisis has strengthened their industry at home. The U.S. border recently opened to...

Canadian cattle trickle south
CANADA - After 26 months, the American border has reopened and trucks filled with Canadian livestock are moving, but local producers remain cautious. “It is with great pleasure that I advise today is the first day since May, 2003 that live cattle...

With cattle moving, 2 BSE programs halted
CANADA - Now that Canadian cattle are free to move across the U.S. border, two federal-provincial cattle industry support programs have been canceled. As of Wednesday, the Canada-Saskatchewan feeder calf set aside program and fed cattle set aside program...

First load of Canadian cattle shipped over border since 2003 BSE crisis
CANADA - Canada's beleaguered beef industry heralded the resumption of the cattle trade Monday as livestock crossed into the United States for the first time since anxiety over mad cow disease closed the border more than two years ago. Source:...

The Canadian beef scare
CANADA - On Thursday, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, siding with the federal government, ruled in favor of reopening U.S. markets to Canadian cattle. This is good news and long overdue. Since the ban went into effect, the U.S. beef industry...

Canadian official: BSE risk 'low'
CANADA - As the chief veterinary officer for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Brian Evans doesn’t see a great need to develop a live-animal BSE test. He also doesn’t believe that every single animal should be tested at slaughter. Instead, with...

$8 billion mad cow disaster blamed on Canadian Food Inspection Agency
OTTAWA - Canada's $8-billion mad cow disaster can be squarely attributed the failure of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to assess economic consequences of even a single infection, says a leading expert. Source: Macleans

Agriculture ministers plan for contingencies in advance of BSE court hearings
CANADA - As a series of impending U.S. court dates casts Canadian beef exports once more into question, provincial and federal agriculture ministers gathered Wednesday to devise worst-case scenario plans. "What we're looking for is consensus as to...

Mad cow 'disaster' plans eyed
CANADA - Canada's agriculture ministers will get a look today at "disaster scenario" plans that may have to be implemented if a Montana judge extends a live cattle ban to boxed cuts of Canadian beef. The "worst case" includes a proposal to immediately...

Canada to fine those who violate BSE safeguards
CANADA - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced yesterday that it will implement new monetary penalties to reinforce its system of safeguards to prevent the spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). These new changes empower CFIA...

US BSE case no link to Canada: Horner
CANADA - Alberta's agriculture minister says it appears a second confirmed case of mad cow disease in the U.S. did not originate in Canada. Doug Horner says all the information isn't in, but he adds that the latest data indicate the diseased animal...

US BSE case no link to Canada: Horner
CANADA - Alberta's agriculture minister says it appears a second confirmed case of mad cow disease in the U.S. did not originate in Canada. Doug Horner says all the information isn't in, but he adds that the latest data indicate the diseased animal...

New test can detect BSE in live cattle, manufacturer says
CANADA - Currently, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) can only be detected post-mortem, using a laboratory procedure that takes several days. But a new test expected to be available to Canadian livestock producers this fall could change that, at...