Mad cow 'disaster' plans eyed
CANADA - Canada's agriculture ministers will get a look today at "disaster scenario" plans that may have to be implemented if a Montana judge extends a live cattle ban to boxed cuts of Canadian beef. The "worst case" includes a proposal to immediately...

Canada to fine those who violate BSE safeguards
CANADA - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced yesterday that it will implement new monetary penalties to reinforce its system of safeguards to prevent the spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). These new changes empower CFIA...

US BSE case no link to Canada: Horner
CANADA - Alberta's agriculture minister says it appears a second confirmed case of mad cow disease in the U.S. did not originate in Canada. Doug Horner says all the information isn't in, but he adds that the latest data indicate the diseased animal...

US BSE case no link to Canada: Horner
CANADA - Alberta's agriculture minister says it appears a second confirmed case of mad cow disease in the U.S. did not originate in Canada. Doug Horner says all the information isn't in, but he adds that the latest data indicate the diseased animal...

New test can detect BSE in live cattle, manufacturer says
CANADA - Currently, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) can only be detected post-mortem, using a laboratory procedure that takes several days. But a new test expected to be available to Canadian livestock producers this fall could change that, at...

New test can detect BSE in live cattle, manufacturer says
CANADA - Currently, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) can only be detected post-mortem, using a laboratory procedure that takes several days. But a new test expected to be available to Canadian livestock producers this fall could change that, at...

Another BSE cloud
CANADA - Alberta Agriculture Minister Doug Horner's first stop was U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney's office. Tomorrow, the son of Peter Lougheed's legendary ag minister and rural fixer Hugh (Doc) Horner drops in on U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns....

Another BSE cloud
CANADA - Alberta Agriculture Minister Doug Horner's first stop was U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney's office. Tomorrow, the son of Peter Lougheed's legendary ag minister and rural fixer Hugh (Doc) Horner drops in on U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns....

BSE Crisis Opens New Markets for Beef in Canada
CANADA - "Walking into Spenst Bros. Premium Meats in Winkler, Manitoba is enough to make you want to take the word "disaster" out of our BSE vocabulary," says Laura Rance, associate editor of the Farmers' Independent Weekly, in a CBC Radio editorial....

BSE Crisis Opens New Markets for Beef in Canada
CANADA - "Walking into Spenst Bros. Premium Meats in Winkler, Manitoba is enough to make you want to take the word "disaster" out of our BSE vocabulary," says Laura Rance, associate editor of the Farmers' Independent Weekly, in a CBC Radio editorial....

Canada's Ag Minister Reflects on BSE Two Years Later
CANADA - Since bovine spongiform encephalopathy was discovered in Canada in May 2003, the government of Canada has allocated more than C$2 billion for BSE aid to producers and BSE programs designed to reposition the livestock industry. Speaking on the...

Beef rescue plan touted
CANADA - If Stan Eby has his way, the only way cattle will be leaving Canada is in a box. After two years with no international markets for live cattle - and no end in sight - the embattled beef industry believes a cut-in-Canada solution is the key...

Canadian beef industry loses patience in bid to reopen border
CANADA - Canadian frustration over the failure to reopen the US border to Canadian beef imports has fuelled demands to accelerate the expansion of its own meat processing capacity. The announcement highlights the frustration felt within Canada’s beef...

Tories want role in BSE injunction hearing
CANADA - The federal Conservatives will ask a Montana judge to grant them intervener status in the case determining whether the U.S. border should open to Canadian cattle. Trade critic Belinda Stronach said Canada needs to be represented at the hearing,...

Canada's BSE plague may be U.S.-bred
CANADA - An investigation by a Canadian news organization has found U.S. scientists improperly analyzed two suspected cases of mad cow disease. The findings are important because they strongly suggest the disease, which has devastated Canada's beef...

Farmers sue feds, seek BSE billions
CANADA - The devastating financial hardship the mad-cow crisis has caused Canada's cattle producers has sparked four mammoth class-action lawsuits that accuse the federal government of gross negligence. The co-ordinated suits, launched in Alberta, Saskatchewan,...

Mad-cow suit blames Ottawa
CANADA - A $7-billion class-action suit being launched this morning on behalf of 100,000 farmers in four provinces accuses the federal government of negligently allowing "mad-cow disease" to devastate the cattle industry. The lawsuit claims that a federal...

Quebec farmer sues Ottawa and Ridley Inc. over mad cow border closure
CANADA - Quebec farmer hopes to secure court approval for a class-action suit against the federal government and animal feed company Ridley Inc. over mad cow disease and the U.S. ban on Canadian beef exports. Donald Berneche of St-Gabriel-de-Brandon,...

Canada-Mexico-U.S. agree to a harmonized BSE import standard
CANADA - Officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States (U.S.) met recently in Mexico City and agreed to a harmonized North American import standard for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Source: CFIA

Martin, Bush remain divided over trade beefs
CANADA - Prime Minister Paul Martin pressed the hot-button trade issues yesterday, but made little progress during a lunch meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush at his Crawford ranch. Chicken was on the menu -- but Martin said they were talking...