Mad Cow Fears Continue In South Korea, But U.S. Beef Is Back

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Mad Cow

United States beef is moving in South Korea today for the first time since 2003 when  a single cow from Canada showed up in Washington State with Mad Cow disease.   The U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement cleared the way for U.S. beef to the nation that was its third largest export market.

Fears and street protests about Mad Cow disease  held up re-opening South Korea to U.S. beef for a few extra days.   According to the AFP news service:

Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-Chun said the imports would resume under new rules proritising the public's health, but the opposition decried the move and thousands of people protested later Thursday.

"The government has fixed new sanitary conditions for importing beef," Chung said in a speech covered live on television. "The government will prioritise public health and safety in carrying out its policies."

He said the US beef imports would be thoroughly inspected and apologised for failing to prevent the spread of anxiety over mad cow disease. Seoul and Washington have previously said US beef is totally safe.

The government sent 1,200 riot policemen to guard a dozen cold storage areas that were apparently already filled with U.S. beef.    Moving it from those lockers to Korean tables might be difficult as union truckers are being urged not to haul American beef.

Seoul saw another night of protests with about 7,000 toting  candles through the streets.  For the AFT wrap-up on the re-entry of American beef,  go here.

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What Is Behind Schafer's Ban On "Downer" Cows?

Posted on May 21, 2008 by Mad Cow

Something happened this year between Feb. 29 and May 20 to change Ed Schafer's mind about "downer" cows.  In a span of just 13 weeks, the Secretary of Agriculture went from holding the United States Department of Agriculture line about veterinarians-on-duty being able to clear some "downer" cows for a trip to the "knock box" to a total ban.

The Humane Society of the United States is taking the victory lap for the ban.   It was their video taken inside the Chino, CA slaughter house that led to the largest beef recall in U.S. history.  

We're not buying it.   All of that was known when Schafer did his original "downer" defense as was reported under this headline in the Seattle Times: Ag secretary resists banning downer cattle.
Like we said, that was 13 weeks ago on this leap year's bonus day.

Today, the Seattle Times put Schafer's new policy under this headline: Ban on slaughter of downer cows announced

To give the man his due, here from the Seattle Times, is the closest the Ag Secretary comes to explaining his policy switch.

Schafer said no such violations have been found at other slaughterhouses. He said the rule change was not being done for public-health reasons but should increase consumer confidence by eliminating confusion about the handling of downers.

"I don't think we can justify the confusion that takes place in the consumer's mind," Schafer said.

He also said the change should improve handling of cows by cattle producers and slaughterhouses "as there will no longer be any market for cattle that are too weak to rise or walk on their own."

The change would affect a small number of cows. Of 34 million cows slaughtered in 2007, about 2,700 fell down after the initial veterinary inspection and were reinspected, Schafer said.

Of those, less than 1,000 were approved to go to slaughter, he said.

Here's what we really think.  

The only thing big enough to turn this crank at USDA in the span of the last 13 weeks is South Korea.   The re-entry of U.S. beef to South Korea will increase sales by at least 15 percent.   The consumers that Ed Schafer is really worried about are the ones in South Korea who fear U.S. beef will bring Mad Cow disease to the Asian country.  Those protests have held up the deal, and USDA is far more worried about that than a few hundred "downer" cows.

UPDATE:  Our opinion would not surprise anyone reading Asian news tonight.  Consider this from  DongA.com

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said the new rule is an example of how high U.S. standards have grown to protect beef consumers in and outside the United States.

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No More "Downer" Cows To Slaughter, Says Ag Secretary

Posted on May 20, 2008 by Mad Cow

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Ed Schafer just issued a long statement that includes this: "...today I am announcing that USDA will begin working on a proposed rule to prohibit the slaughter of all disabled non-ambulatory cattle, also know as "downer cattle." In other words, I am calling for the end of the exceptions in the so called "downer rule."

We'll provide more details when we have them.

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South Korea Is Delaying Re-Entry of U.S. Beef Due To Mad Cow Protests

Posted on May 16, 2008 by Mad Cow

South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry is delaying the resumption of beef imports from the United States to consider the many protest petitions it has received from its “Mad Cow-phobic” population.

The delay isn’t going over very well in Washington, D.C. where Congressmen say the Free Trade Agreement with South Korea won’t be approved unless the government in Seoul fully opens its market to American beef.

Prior to being locked out of South Korea in 2003 when a cow from Canada immigrated to Washington State where it was found to be contaminated with Mad Cow disease, the Asian nation was the third largest foreign market for American beef. The industry badly wants back in.

Standing in the way are the protest rallies that have been held every day since the pact was announced. More than 1,700 civic groups are involved in the street protests, and 1.3 million have signed a petition against the re-entry of U.S. beef to their country. Korean ranchers, who have enjoyed not having competition from Americans, and opposition political parties are keeping the pot well stirred.

For an American view of what this all means, may I suggest you check out Martha Rosenberg who gives all of this her own special viewpoint in the May 15th issue of CounterPunch.

Rosenberg, a rare editorial cartoonist who writes, caught our attention by including a list of people who’ve died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in the U.S. during the past nine months. Like Mad Cow, C-J is a prion disease.

Rosenberg writes:

Seven people have died from probable Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in the U.S. in the last nine months including Connie Albert of Lincoln IL and Roger Leon Dalton of Willis, VA in Aug. 2007; Roland Lacey and Ray Norris--who lived within three miles of each other near Stanton, DE--and a 79-year-old woman in Milwaukee, WI all in Dec 2007; a 53-year-old man in Colby, KS in Jan. 2008, a former meat worker, and Aretha Vinson of Portsmouth VA in April.


While public health officials are quick to rule CJD "sporadic," not meat-caused--even before brain biopsies or when it's in clusters (hello)--to forestall panic about food and hospital safety, Aretha Vinson presented a perfect storm for U.S. trade officials:

 

Not only was she young at 22 and her family outspoken--"She has not traveled overseas. She's not even been to the Midwest," said her mother, adding she "wasn't the only one who ate this food,"--the news broke in the middle of the Bush/Lee summit.

Rosenberg's point is that concern about Mad Cow disease in the U.S. beef supply is not unfounded.   We agree.  Nor do we think the South Korean public is acting in a sane and rational manner.

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Creekstone Fights For Right To Test For BSE

Posted on May 10, 2008 by Mad Cow

Creekstone Farms Premium Beef is finding out how difficult life can be when your opponent in court is the U.S. government. One thing is certain, the government is not worried about running up legal bills.

Here's what we are talking about.  Your government wants to stop Creekstone from using its own money to test each and every one of its Black Angus beef cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease.

Last March, Creekstone beat the government at the trial court level.  U.S. Judge James Robertson of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. said the United States Department of Agriculture's prohibition of private tests was "unlawful."

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in the case. USDA, which currently tests only one percent of slaughtered cows for BSE, brought the appeal. 

With near riots in 30 locations in South Korea over the re-entry of U.S. beef cattle to the Asian country, Creekstone's plan to test for BSE are looking more than savvy. Its testing facility, a state-of-the-art laboratory, is ready to go at its Arkansas City, Kansas plant. All that stands in the way of its ability to respond to customer demand in Korea, Japan and other countries concerned about Mad Cow Disease is Uncle Sam.

USDA says more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers. They said Creekstone wants to "create false assurances."

Creekstone said USDA's regulations covering the treatment of domestic animals contain no prohibition against an individual company testing for mad cow disease, since the test is conducted only after a cow is slaughtered. The company insists USDA no authority to prevent the private sector from using the test to reassure customers. Creekstone says USDA wants to keep information from consumers.

Appeals courts generally issue their rulings some weeks after hearing the case.

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Opening of South Korean Market To U.S. Beef Sparks Protests

Posted on May 9, 2008 by Mad Cow

The return of U.S. beef to the South Korean market is encountering severe turbulence.   Thousands of South Koreans have "hit the bricks" to protest the decision by its government to let U.S. beef back in the country for the first time since 2003.

The Korea Times has this report on what's happening:

More than 10,000 people participated in a candlelight vigil in Seoul, according to police, which was organized by a coalition of 1,500 civic groups and Internet-based communities in what was the biggest gathering since the government announced plans to relax the import restrictions on U.S. beef. Organizers of the rally claimed that the crowd numbered closer to 30,000.

Protestors urged the Lee Myung-bak government to take a harder look at the health concerns on U.S. beef from cattle older than 30 months, which is believed to be more at risk from BSE, commonly called ``mad cow" disease.

Similar rallies were also held in more than 10 towns and cities across the country, including Incheon, Suwon, Daejeon, Busan and Jeonju

[So far,none of the protest rallies have turned into one of those famous South Korean riots as shown here.]

Last weekend, Dr. Richard Raymond, USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety, issued the complete text of his statement to the South Korea trade delegation.  Dr. Raymond told the group that "the U.S. beef supply is among the safest in the world."   The complete text can be found here.

South Korea has agreed to open itself up to U.S. beef for the first time since 2003 when a "mad cow" was found in Washington State.  

Whether the public protests will impact the government remain to be seen.   However, the Korea  Times makes it clear, some opponents won't be giving up.  The newspaper reports:

Internet cafe members, professors' groups and some doctors said that they will fight against the government until the beef deal between the two countries is scrapped.

Go here for the rest of the Korea Times story.

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