By Randy Fabi
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The United States on Friday followed Canada's lead
in temporarily suspending imports of Brazilian beef gravy, corned
beef, gelatins and other processed beef products as a precaution
against mad cow disease and its deadly human variation.
The U.S. ban came less than a week after the Food and Drug Administration
quarantined a small Texas feed lot for violating strict rules
that forbid using animal feed that contains ground-up bits of
cattle.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said although there
was no evidence of mad cow disease in Brazil, it was concerned
that certain Brazilian beef products may have come into contact
with beef from Europe, which has been hit with an outbreak of
the brain-wasting disease.
``This decision is a temporary action pending the release of requested
data to complete a bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) risk
assessment,'' USDA said in a statement. Further action would be
taken if needed to keep the disease out of the United States,
which has never had a case.
BSE, better known to the world as mad cow disease, is believed
to have spread from Britain to other countries when the bones,
spinal cord and other remains of diseased cattle were ground up
for use in livestock feed.
Nearly 90 people in Britain, France and Ireland have died from
or been diagnosed with the human version, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease (vCJD).
Canada is the leading exporter of beef and veal to the U.S., with
345,069 tons shipped in 1999, according to the USDA. Brazil shipped
50,376 tons of beef and veal to the U.S. in 1999, up from 33,534
tons in 1998.
Brazil's ministry said canned and liquid beef exports to the United
States were worth around $82.5 million per year while sales to
Canada were about $5.5 million.
U.S. Move Follows Canada
Earlier Friday, Canada became the first NAFTA country to announce
it was banning Brazilian beef products after receiving information
that Brazil had imported live animals from Europe until 1999.
Ottawa said it was suspending all imports of Brazilian canned
beef as well as liquid products such as gravy and gelatin, and
would pull the products from grocery store shelves.
Mexico, the other U.S. trade partner under the North American
Free Trade Agreement, said it expected to issue its own ban on
Brazilian beef products.
An angry Brazil criticized Canada for overreacting and initiating
a ban that would force similar action by NAFTA partners.
Brazil's Agriculture Ministry on Friday said the bans were ''scientifically
unjustifiable'' since there were never any cases of the brain-wasting
illness reported in the country.
``Brazil's beef is absolutely safe, and there is no mad cow in
Brazil,'' said Marcio Fortest de Almeida, executive secretary
of the agricultural ministry.
Brazil, home to the world's largest herd of cattle, is locked
in a bitter trade battle with Canada over aircraft subsidies.
The USDA said it was working with Brazilian agriculture officials
to complete a mad cow risk assessment in Brazil as quickly as
possible.
``Once this data has been received and USDA is assured that Brazil
has taken sound measures to prevent BSE, the suspensionwill be
lifted,'' the USDA said.
Brazil Slow To Document Safety Steps
American cattlemen said they supported Canada's action, mostly
because Brazil has been slow in providing documentation of its
animal safety controls to keep out mad cow disease.
``We have no evidence that there is a problem there. They simply
have not been timely in providing data for risk assessment,''
said Chuck Schroeder, head of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
Since Britain was identified as the first European country to
report the mad cow disease more than a decade ago, the United
States has banned imports of live ruminants such cattle, sheep
and goats, and their by-products from countries with BSE.
In December, the USDA expanded its regulations to cover all rendered
animal protein products, regardless of species, from Europe.
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