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Basic Information on BSE BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) Transmitted by infected meat and bone meal Scientist believe that BSE is spread when brains and spinal cords of diseased livestock are ground up for use in animal feed Causes Creutsfeldt-Jakob disease- this is a fatal brain disease Japanese Dimension Alberta Beef Industry believes that Japan moving slowly to open Canadian borders to save face for way it handled BSE in Japan in 2001 Month after positive test in Japan , Japanese tested every slaughtered cow for BSE, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture was later blamed for not listening to warnings from a the EU about possible BSE in Japan from contaminated livestock feed Japan maybe using mad cow to boost own beef industry: says former economic adviser to the U.S state department; Maryland economic consultant; Bob Fauver “The regulators in Japan use this fear and play upon it in their continued effort to slow down the rate of beef imports into Japan,” Bob Fauver English-language newspapers in Japan said in December 2002 the country’s agriculture ministry was considering a curb on beef imports to boost the domestic cattle industry Thus ban maybe more economic protectionism than safety concerns Industry is recovering from its own BSE case in 2001 Canadian Dimension Apart from Japan there are 34 countries that have either closed Canadian Borders or have partial banns on Canadian beef products 2001 Canada banned beef from Brazil- this was said to have endangered dreams of hemisphere wide free-trade Japan is 3rd largest importer of Canadian Beef Canada has a ban on live cattle imports from Japan-(small cuts of beef allowed ) shortly after dairy cow found with BSE in farm close to Tokyo, even though Japanese officials assured Canadian counterparts that its methods were now superior So it is suggested that current actions are “pay back” American Dimension American beef industry benefiting somewhat from the Canadian beef ban U.S industry increasing from 460 million to 540 million; most increase from markets where Canadian and U.S producers used to compete: ex. Japan, South Korea and Mexico Japan is America’s largest importer of Beef, accounting for 1/3 of American export “Our Beef with Japan” Globe and Mail Article By Mindy Kotler Thursday, July 17 2003 Since Japan mad-cow disease case was announced; Japanese government accused of pursuing policy of cover-up for incompetence, arrogance and an antiquated food inspection system There have been 7 cases of BSE in Japan, 2 cases in 2003 Governing of Japan is Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) concerned about rural votes its most important constituency LDP in fragile coalition government and wishes to regain majority status in Parliament, thus it must maintain rural satisfaction and help beef industry by keeping out foreign beef Japan is curbing beef imports by activating WTO “safeguard clause”- WTO rules sate: Japan may increase beef tariffs from 38.5% to 50% if there is year-on-year increase of more than 17% in imported beef on a cumulative quarterly basis Japan engaging in protectionism: Canadian safety methods are far superior to Japanese or American systems; Cows are usually slaughtered at young age so that BSE can not set in American Policy American approval of Japanese position is political: it is a means of thanking the LDP for pushing legislation to change Japan’s pacifist security policy to support U.S operations in Iraq and Afghanistan – also a snub to Canada for not condoning U.S war in Iraq Japan trying to aid inefficient farmers; Food Safety better excuse to limit beef imports than WTO clause Tactics straining Canada- U.S relations and hurting Canadian farmers Suggested Canadian Actions 1. Canada should work closely with U.S beef producers to make case for industry to White House 2. Canada should engage in campaign to show superiority of Canada’s system to Japanese in Japan 3. Senior Canadian Health Officials should meet with Japan’s new Food Safety Council and if necessary: Canada should hold up or even veto Japanese proposals in International organizations, and should begin rigorous safety inspections of Japanese Plants in Canada 1st Slide ‘Canadians have been provided with inadequate information by the Federal Government on the Mad Cow disease issue and many consumers will be eating less beef in the future as a result.’ Mel Fruitman President, Consumers’ Association of Canada 2nd Slide Consumers’ Association of Canada Survey June 13, 2003 64% indicated Mad Cow disease would have some impact on their consumption of beef 40% feel the government has not provided sufficient information to allow a consumer to decide if beef is safe to eat 39% of consumers concerned about the safety of Canadian beef 11% would significantly reduce or completely stop their consumption of beef 3rd Slide Consumers’ Association of Canada Action Plan for Canada’s Beef Supply System With the goal to restore consumer confidence, CAC recommends that the Federal Government: 1. Implement a national communication program explaining to consumers what is being done to protect Canada's beef supply and steps consumers can take to minimize any risks associated with consuming beef. 2. Immediately ban the use of animal by-products as feed for all animals that are destined for human consumption. 3. Immediately move to implement European testing standards for Canada's beef supply system. 4. Immediately provide financial assistance to the beef industry as Canadians need a financially secure and safe beef supply system. 4th Slide Beef Information Centre Provides consumers with regular updates and current information Provides resources such as a website, a 1-888 number and other resources (BIC) Canadian Beef – Quality That Inspires Confidence - Resource to ensure Canadians remain confident about Canadian beef and to encourage them to choose Canadian beef more often In humans the most common TSE is CJD or otherwise known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. CJD is a rare disease that like BSE in bovines promotes the degeneration of the central nervous system. The most common form of this disease is classical form. Last year in Canada between 25 and 30 people died because of classical CJD. There are three types of classical CJD none of which have been linked to eating beef. The forth form of CJD is called variant CJD which has been linked to eating infected beef and beef by-products. There are aproxmiatly 125 cases of probable or confirmed cases of vCJD in the United Kingdom. The only known way as of now to contract vCJD is eating infected beef or beef by-products. The likelihood of a person being subjected to infected BSE meat in Canada is very low to none. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has a very effective system for looking for infected animals with BSE. There was only one case of vCJD confirmed in Canada but it was proven that the infected person was a extensive visitor to the United Kingdom during the BSE or “Mad Cow” epidemic. There are no cases where the person was infected by eating infected Canadian beef. The job of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is to make sure that if an infected animal is slaughtered in Canada that it doesn’t enter the chain of human consumption. This is the first step to preventing vCJD from being contracted in Canada and that is prevention of infected animals entering the food chain. If there is a probable case it is immediately reported to Health Canada’s CJD Surveillance System then the team works with doctors and international sources to confirm the diagnosis.
Approximate Word count = 5041
Approximate Pages = 20.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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