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MEXICO CITY —(AP)— Mexico last week partially lifted its ban on imports of U.S. beef, announcing that boneless cuts from animals less than 30 months old and veal from animals less than nine months old could be imported. The Mexican government had imposed a ban on Dec. 24, the day after a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, so-called "mad cow" disease, was reported in Washington state. Mexico is traditionally the second-largest foreign market for U.S. beef, following Japan. The United States exported 346,520 tons of beef to Mexico from January through November last year, worth $818 million, according to USDA data compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. In last week's announcement, Mexico's agriculture department said the ban still applies to live animals. The agency's chief of sanitation, Javier Trujillo, said the government took the measure after analyzing risks and measures adopted by the United States following discovery of the diseased animal. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman welcomed Mexico's announcement. She said her department provided Mexican officials with extensive information they requested and ``hosted their technical teams to illustrate that our beef is indeed safe.'' Mexico's decision could pave the way for other countries to open their borders, officials said Thursday. ``The Mexican government's decision sends an important signal to other countries that American beef is safe,'' said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. Hagel said his legislative assistant for agriculture, Dale Nellor, was in Japan working to reopen that country to U.S. beef. More than 30 countries banned imports of U.S. beef after the Dec. 23 announcement of mad cow disease in a Holstein cow in Washington state. The disease eats holes in the brains of cattle, and humans are thought to be at risk of developing a variation of the brain-wasting illness if they eat contaminated beef products. Meanwhile, the United States Department of Agriculture is extending its restriction on Canadian beef and cattle exports because of Canada's BSE case. USDA said late last week it would accept more public comment on a proposed rule to allow shipments from countries with ``isolated cases'' of BSE. Canada, like the United States, has had only one known case. (Well… two if you count the Canadian cow that turned up on this side of the border and wreaked such havoc on U.S. exports. — Ed.) The proposed rule would list Canada as a country with ``minimal risk.'' This would let Canada qualify to ship cattle under 30 months of age, which are considered to have very low risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. And the department said Thursday that it would consider taking beef from cattle over 30 months if potentially infectious parts, such as the spinal cord, had been removed. The United States imported almost 1.1 billion pounds of beef and veal from Canada in 2002. The extension of the comment period allows opponents as well as supporters to file statements until April 7. After that, the government can continue to delay imports while it considers the comments. Asked when there might be a final decision, USDA spokesman Jim Rogers said there was ``no time line.'' ``It's our hope that the process moves quickly and that the border reopens as soon as possible,'' Canadian Agriculture Minister Bob Speller said in a statement. He said the U.S. action was an important step that could lead to resumed exports. The announcement came one day after Mexico announced it would allow some U.S. beef back in. Also Thursday, a top Agriculture Department official said the government plans to require U.S. livestock producers to register animals with a proposed disease-tracking system only if a voluntary program does not work. The animal identification plan still being developed would let authorities find animals suspected of having mad cow or other diseases within 48 hours. Many producers do not want such a program to be mandatory, and requiring participation might foster cheating by producers who don't want to take part, said William Hawks, USDA's undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs. ``There's a law against murder, but there's certainly a lot of it going on,'' Hawks told reporters after testifying at a Senate Agriculture Committee subcommittee hearing on marketing and inspection. Hawks said large numbers of producers would register in a voluntary program if meat buyers insisted. ``If you're a Wal-Mart and wanted complete traceability, the market would respond,'' he said. The discovery of BSE gave stronger impetus to developing a better system to track animals from farm to market. Authorities had to rely on partial records as they sought other animals that might have eaten the same potentially infected feed as the stricken cow. |
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