This letters shows the protectionist agenda of R-Calf. As well as how numbers and facts can be distorted. I just wish people were able to hear both sides of the story!
R-CALF USA Member Alert
(This is not a news release)
To: R-CALF USA Members and Affiliates
From: Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALF USA
Date: January 1, 2005
Subject: Happy New Year! We Must Immediately Prepare to Protect Your U.S. Cattle Industry
Background: It is official: USDA has set March 7, 2005 as the date to reintroduce Canadian live cattle under 30 months of age and Canadian beef from cattle of all ages into the United States. This action is being taken while:
80 percent of U.S. export markets remain closed;
Canadian news reports Canada has been violating its own feed ban;
Canada's BSE protection measures are significantly inferior to any other country in the world where BSE is known to exist; and
USDA projects its action will cause losses to U.S. cattle producers ranging from $2.8 billion to $3 billion annually.
USDA is proceeding in the absence of science. It is making the United States a dumping ground for products that do not meet minimal international standards and products our own export customers find unacceptable. These Canadian products will not be required to be labeled, so consumers will not be able to choose between U.S. or Canadian beef. This action will devalue the U.S. cattle industry.
Status: Because of your involvement and financial support, R-CALF USA already demonstrated it can overturn the improper actions of the USDA. Last April we won a landmark court case blocking USDA from allowing high-risk Canadian beef and live cattle into the U.S. until the agency completed its rulemaking. Here is the successful strategy we executed last year:
1. We mounted a comprehensive legal challenge, which included expert declarations from university economists, disease risk assessment scientists, and scientists in the field of animal health.
2. We mounted an effective lobbying campaign where R-CALF USA members convinced Congress to begin holding investigative hearings into the actions of USDA.
3. We mounted a successful public opinion campaign and convinced the nation's largest consumer groups to support the position of the U.S. cattle industry and to inform their over 50 million consumer-members about the improper actions of USDA.
With your continued involvement and financial support, we will win again!
Action: Last year R-CALF USA members raised the nearly $600,000 it took to execute the above strategy and to protect your U.S. cattle industry. It was your individual checks that made it happen. We must do this again in 2005, right now!
R-CALF USA has already begun replicating the successful, three-part strategy described above so we will, again, succeed in overturning USDA's improper action. We are using the same lead attorneys and the same scientists.
How effective we will be in our three-part strategy depends on how much money we can raise immediately – we need to start right now.
Again, R-CALF USA is asking each member to contribute $100 or more to the R-CALF USA legal fund. Please send your contributions to:
Make checks payable to: R-CALF USA legal fund
Mail to: R-CALF USA
Legal Fund
P.O. Box 30715
Billings, MT 59107
With your help, we will win this fight! Please check your e-mails at least weekly while we're getting started. We will soon begin sending you fact sheets and talking points and will be asking for your assistance in getting the right message to your congressional members and to the public.
Please distribute this message to all your contacts. Thanks to all of you for our tremendous success last year. Let's have another great year! We'll be in touch.
Third Canadian Cow in Past 20 Months BSE-Positive; Canada Must Immediately Implement Mandatory Testing
BILLINGS, MONT. (January 3, 2005) The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Sunday confirmed that yet another native dairy cow from Alberta, Canada, has tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has stated that cattle infected with BSE typically exhibit symptoms four to six years after infection, and 95 percent of BSE-infected cattle exhibit symptoms in less than seven years. Original reports from Canada indicate this third BSE-infected cow was 10 years old, but the CFIA confirmed on December 31st that this native Canadian cow actually was only 8 years old.
"Based on USDA's own description of the incubation period for BSE, this native Canadian cow most likely became infected with BSE after Canada implemented its meat-and-bone meal (MBM) feed ban in 1997, suggesting that Canada's MBM feed ban was not enforced," said Bill Bullard, R-CALF USA CEO.
Canada has undergone a limited testing program, testing only 21,501 cattle in 2004, compared to 175,875 cattle the U.S. has tested, even though no domestic U.S. cattle have ever tested positive for BSE.
"This is the third confirmed case of BSE in native Canadian cattle found in less than two years, and all three native Canadian BSE-infected cattle were found using only very limited BSE testing," Bullard said. "This demonstrates that the true prevalence of BSE in Canada is likely to be much higher than previously assumed, and USDA is dangerously premature in its efforts to relax U.S. health and safety standards by forcing Canadian cattle under 30 months of age – and Canadian beef from cattle of all ages – to be allowed into the U.S. beginning March 7th."
USDA states that Canada plans to BSE test 30,000 head of cattle in 2005, enabling Canada to statistically detect one case of BSE in one million adult cattle. But BSE already has been detected in three Canadian cows in just the past 20 months, with Canada testing far fewer than 30,000 cattle during the entire period.
"This means Canada's BSE prevalence is most likely far greater than USDA seems to believe, and further calls into question USDA's departure from international BSE health and safety standards, which would not allow Canada to be classified as a minimal-risk country," said Bullard.
"We are deeply concerned that despite the known and expanding prevalence of BSE within its domestic cattle herd, Canada continues testing only cattle that already exhibit BSE disease symptoms," Bullard continued. "This means Canada is taking no effective steps to use sound, established, scientific BSE testing procedures to prevent BSE-infected cattle from entering its human food system by detecting BSE before the visible symptoms develop. We believe Canada should follow a much more rigorous testing program to determine the prevalence of BSE in its cattle herd to protect its consumers and to prevent the spread of this disease.
"It is critically important for everyone to understand this is Canada's third publicly acknowledged case of BSE in a native Canadian cow in the past 20 months, not its second case," Bullard emphasized. "The United States has never detected a BSE-positive animal in our domestic cattle herd. U.S. cattle producers are asking the media to help correct the misperception that the United States has ever had a case of BSE in our native cattle herd. The BSE cow found in the U.S. in December 2003 was not part of the U.S. native cattle herd, but was a cow imported from Canada's native cattle herd.
"U.S. cattle producers also ask the media to help the U.S. cattle industry overcome the damaging effects caused by those who reference 'North American cases of BSE,'" Bullard said. "The U.S. has never detected BSE in its native herd, and neither has Mexico ever detected BSE in its native herd.
"Only Canada, and the multi-national meatpackers – with plants throughout North America – keep describing Canada's BSE problem as a 'North American herd' problem, and it's in these multi-national meatpackers' financial interests to consolidate the U.S. cattle herd, at the expense of both consumers and U.S. cattle producers," Bullard continued. "But this goal is not in the interest of consumers in the United States or abroad, who should realize that all BSE cases found in North America occurred in cattle from Canada – despite its minimal testing program – not cattle from the United States – despite our much larger testing programs – nor cattle from Mexico.
"It is Canada, and Canada alone, that has found – not once, but three times – that its herd carries BSE, while the United States' and Mexican herds show no such BSE risks," Bullard said.
Here are the facts: It is undisputed that Canada discovered its first clinical case of BSE in 1993 when a cow imported from Great Britain in 1987 tested positive for the disease. Canada announced on May 20, 2003, that another cow tested positive for the disease. Then, on Dec. 23, 2003, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced the discovery of a BSE-positive cow in Washington state – a Canadian cow that was imported into the United States. And now, another BSE-positive cow, discovered again, in Canada.
"According to CFIA, the Canadian government is now looking at this Alberta cow's offspring and cattle born on the same farm within a year of the infected animal," Bullard said. "And although CFIA says the cow likely was infected before the 1997 feed ban went into effect, and that it's launching an investigation into what kind of feed the animal consumed early in its life, that still means the cow was infected when it was quite young, and carried the BSE-agent all this time, proving that even young Canadian cattle are potentially infected, while the U.S. continues to accept boneless cuts of beef from young Canadian cattle.
"This means importing cattle and beef from Canada should not be considered any less hazardous than importing cattle and beef from many BSE-positive European countries, and these imports could possibly be more hazardous," Bullard continued. "Not only should USDA immediately withdraw its rule to resume cattle and beef trade with Canada, it should also immediately halt all imports of Canadian boneless beef from animals under 30 months of age, at least until it requires Canadian beef to be labeled so consumers can choose how much risk they want to assume when buying beef not tested for BSE from Canada, especially since Canada has recently – and formally – acknowledged several cases of BSE.
"There is a serious BSE problem in Canada and there has been no comparable problem in the United States," Bullard added. "USDA must require Canada to begin mandatory BSE testing for all Canadian cattle over 20 months of age, so the prevalence of BSE in native Canadian cattle can be determined and appropriate steps taken to help Canada eradicate BSE from its cattle herd, rather than to put our consumers at risk or risk spreading the disease to the U.S. cattle herd."
R-CALF USA Member Alert
(This is not a news release)
To: R-CALF USA Members and Affiliates
From: Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALF USA
Date: January 1, 2005
Subject: Happy New Year! We Must Immediately Prepare to Protect Your U.S. Cattle Industry
Background: It is official: USDA has set March 7, 2005 as the date to reintroduce Canadian live cattle under 30 months of age and Canadian beef from cattle of all ages into the United States. This action is being taken while:
80 percent of U.S. export markets remain closed;
Canadian news reports Canada has been violating its own feed ban;
Canada's BSE protection measures are significantly inferior to any other country in the world where BSE is known to exist; and
USDA projects its action will cause losses to U.S. cattle producers ranging from $2.8 billion to $3 billion annually.
USDA is proceeding in the absence of science. It is making the United States a dumping ground for products that do not meet minimal international standards and products our own export customers find unacceptable. These Canadian products will not be required to be labeled, so consumers will not be able to choose between U.S. or Canadian beef. This action will devalue the U.S. cattle industry.
Status: Because of your involvement and financial support, R-CALF USA already demonstrated it can overturn the improper actions of the USDA. Last April we won a landmark court case blocking USDA from allowing high-risk Canadian beef and live cattle into the U.S. until the agency completed its rulemaking. Here is the successful strategy we executed last year:
1. We mounted a comprehensive legal challenge, which included expert declarations from university economists, disease risk assessment scientists, and scientists in the field of animal health.
2. We mounted an effective lobbying campaign where R-CALF USA members convinced Congress to begin holding investigative hearings into the actions of USDA.
3. We mounted a successful public opinion campaign and convinced the nation's largest consumer groups to support the position of the U.S. cattle industry and to inform their over 50 million consumer-members about the improper actions of USDA.
With your continued involvement and financial support, we will win again!
Action: Last year R-CALF USA members raised the nearly $600,000 it took to execute the above strategy and to protect your U.S. cattle industry. It was your individual checks that made it happen. We must do this again in 2005, right now!
R-CALF USA has already begun replicating the successful, three-part strategy described above so we will, again, succeed in overturning USDA's improper action. We are using the same lead attorneys and the same scientists.
How effective we will be in our three-part strategy depends on how much money we can raise immediately – we need to start right now.
Again, R-CALF USA is asking each member to contribute $100 or more to the R-CALF USA legal fund. Please send your contributions to:
Make checks payable to: R-CALF USA legal fund
Mail to: R-CALF USA
Legal Fund
P.O. Box 30715
Billings, MT 59107
With your help, we will win this fight! Please check your e-mails at least weekly while we're getting started. We will soon begin sending you fact sheets and talking points and will be asking for your assistance in getting the right message to your congressional members and to the public.
Please distribute this message to all your contacts. Thanks to all of you for our tremendous success last year. Let's have another great year! We'll be in touch.
Third Canadian Cow in Past 20 Months BSE-Positive; Canada Must Immediately Implement Mandatory Testing
BILLINGS, MONT. (January 3, 2005) The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Sunday confirmed that yet another native dairy cow from Alberta, Canada, has tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has stated that cattle infected with BSE typically exhibit symptoms four to six years after infection, and 95 percent of BSE-infected cattle exhibit symptoms in less than seven years. Original reports from Canada indicate this third BSE-infected cow was 10 years old, but the CFIA confirmed on December 31st that this native Canadian cow actually was only 8 years old.
"Based on USDA's own description of the incubation period for BSE, this native Canadian cow most likely became infected with BSE after Canada implemented its meat-and-bone meal (MBM) feed ban in 1997, suggesting that Canada's MBM feed ban was not enforced," said Bill Bullard, R-CALF USA CEO.
Canada has undergone a limited testing program, testing only 21,501 cattle in 2004, compared to 175,875 cattle the U.S. has tested, even though no domestic U.S. cattle have ever tested positive for BSE.
"This is the third confirmed case of BSE in native Canadian cattle found in less than two years, and all three native Canadian BSE-infected cattle were found using only very limited BSE testing," Bullard said. "This demonstrates that the true prevalence of BSE in Canada is likely to be much higher than previously assumed, and USDA is dangerously premature in its efforts to relax U.S. health and safety standards by forcing Canadian cattle under 30 months of age – and Canadian beef from cattle of all ages – to be allowed into the U.S. beginning March 7th."
USDA states that Canada plans to BSE test 30,000 head of cattle in 2005, enabling Canada to statistically detect one case of BSE in one million adult cattle. But BSE already has been detected in three Canadian cows in just the past 20 months, with Canada testing far fewer than 30,000 cattle during the entire period.
"This means Canada's BSE prevalence is most likely far greater than USDA seems to believe, and further calls into question USDA's departure from international BSE health and safety standards, which would not allow Canada to be classified as a minimal-risk country," said Bullard.
"We are deeply concerned that despite the known and expanding prevalence of BSE within its domestic cattle herd, Canada continues testing only cattle that already exhibit BSE disease symptoms," Bullard continued. "This means Canada is taking no effective steps to use sound, established, scientific BSE testing procedures to prevent BSE-infected cattle from entering its human food system by detecting BSE before the visible symptoms develop. We believe Canada should follow a much more rigorous testing program to determine the prevalence of BSE in its cattle herd to protect its consumers and to prevent the spread of this disease.
"It is critically important for everyone to understand this is Canada's third publicly acknowledged case of BSE in a native Canadian cow in the past 20 months, not its second case," Bullard emphasized. "The United States has never detected a BSE-positive animal in our domestic cattle herd. U.S. cattle producers are asking the media to help correct the misperception that the United States has ever had a case of BSE in our native cattle herd. The BSE cow found in the U.S. in December 2003 was not part of the U.S. native cattle herd, but was a cow imported from Canada's native cattle herd.
"U.S. cattle producers also ask the media to help the U.S. cattle industry overcome the damaging effects caused by those who reference 'North American cases of BSE,'" Bullard said. "The U.S. has never detected BSE in its native herd, and neither has Mexico ever detected BSE in its native herd.
"Only Canada, and the multi-national meatpackers – with plants throughout North America – keep describing Canada's BSE problem as a 'North American herd' problem, and it's in these multi-national meatpackers' financial interests to consolidate the U.S. cattle herd, at the expense of both consumers and U.S. cattle producers," Bullard continued. "But this goal is not in the interest of consumers in the United States or abroad, who should realize that all BSE cases found in North America occurred in cattle from Canada – despite its minimal testing program – not cattle from the United States – despite our much larger testing programs – nor cattle from Mexico.
"It is Canada, and Canada alone, that has found – not once, but three times – that its herd carries BSE, while the United States' and Mexican herds show no such BSE risks," Bullard said.
Here are the facts: It is undisputed that Canada discovered its first clinical case of BSE in 1993 when a cow imported from Great Britain in 1987 tested positive for the disease. Canada announced on May 20, 2003, that another cow tested positive for the disease. Then, on Dec. 23, 2003, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced the discovery of a BSE-positive cow in Washington state – a Canadian cow that was imported into the United States. And now, another BSE-positive cow, discovered again, in Canada.
"According to CFIA, the Canadian government is now looking at this Alberta cow's offspring and cattle born on the same farm within a year of the infected animal," Bullard said. "And although CFIA says the cow likely was infected before the 1997 feed ban went into effect, and that it's launching an investigation into what kind of feed the animal consumed early in its life, that still means the cow was infected when it was quite young, and carried the BSE-agent all this time, proving that even young Canadian cattle are potentially infected, while the U.S. continues to accept boneless cuts of beef from young Canadian cattle.
"This means importing cattle and beef from Canada should not be considered any less hazardous than importing cattle and beef from many BSE-positive European countries, and these imports could possibly be more hazardous," Bullard continued. "Not only should USDA immediately withdraw its rule to resume cattle and beef trade with Canada, it should also immediately halt all imports of Canadian boneless beef from animals under 30 months of age, at least until it requires Canadian beef to be labeled so consumers can choose how much risk they want to assume when buying beef not tested for BSE from Canada, especially since Canada has recently – and formally – acknowledged several cases of BSE.
"There is a serious BSE problem in Canada and there has been no comparable problem in the United States," Bullard added. "USDA must require Canada to begin mandatory BSE testing for all Canadian cattle over 20 months of age, so the prevalence of BSE in native Canadian cattle can be determined and appropriate steps taken to help Canada eradicate BSE from its cattle herd, rather than to put our consumers at risk or risk spreading the disease to the U.S. cattle herd."
