USDA Asked to Extend Comment Period on Cattle Imports
US - Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns has received a formal request that the U.S. Department of Agriculture extend the public comment period regarding the agency's proposal to allow imports of Canadian cattle over 30 months of age.
2 March 2007
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The current deadline for comments is March 12 for APHIS-2006-0041: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE); Minimal-Risk Regions; Importation of Live Bovines and Products Derived from Bovines.
R-CALF USA requested the deadline be extended for 60 days, or for 30 days, after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) releases the final epidemiological investigation concerning the latest Canadian BSE case confirmed on Feb. 7, whichever date is later.
"News reports indicate this latest Canadian BSE case was born in 2000, years after the implementation of the Canadian feed ban, as well as after the March 1999 date that USDA has determined to be the date when the Canadian feed ban became fully implemented and effective in preventing the spread of BSE," R-CALF's letter states. "If indeed this latest BSE case is the fourth born after March 1999, it will raise serious questions about the proposed OTM Rule that allows cattle born after March 1999 to be imported into the U.S. from Canada."
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