Thursday, May 20, 2004
The USDA has been under pressure to lift its ban on Canadian beef.
WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON -- The Agriculture Department allowed American meatpackers to resume imports of ground and other "processed" beef from Canada last September, just weeks after it publicly reaffirmed its ban on importing those products because mad cow disease had been found in Canadian cattle.
In the next six months, a total of 33 million pounds of Canadian processed beef flowed to American consumers under a series of undisclosed permits the USDA issued to the meatpackers, permits that remained in effect until a federal judge intervened in April.
The imports -- which involved ground beef, cubed beef and some types of sausage -- were allowed despite the August 2003 announcement by Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman that she was extending an earlier ban on many types of Canadian beef.
Ever since the USDA briefly shut down all imports of Canadian beef in May 2003 after the mad cow discovery, the USDA has been under great pressure from Canada and from large American meatpackers with plants across the border to loosen the restrictions, which hurt profits in both countries.
Consideration of risks
In her August announcement allowing importation of boneless beef to resume, Veneman said the risk that ground beef might contain mad cow infection was too great to allow it in. She and her top deputies said ground beef imports would resume only after the agency completed a formal rule-making process, with public debate.
According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, however, processed beef began re-entering the United States from Canada the next month, and 33 million pounds were imported over the next six months, mostly through Buffalo. USDA spokeswoman Andrea McNally said the imports included ground beef, hamburger patties, pepperoni, and fat and meat "trim" from fancier cuts.