The international organization, known as OIE, preliminarily recommended that both nations be designated ``controlled-risk'' countries for the livestock illness, according to separate government statements. Member countries will vote on the designation at the Paris-based OIE's assembly in May. Canada has had nine mad-cow cases since 2003; the U.S. has had three.

``This recommendation provides strong support that U.S. regulatory controls are effective and that U.S. cattle and products from cattle of all ages can be traded safely,'' Ron DeHaven, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said in a statement.

The OIE ruling may help beef companies like Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc., which have processing plants in both the U.S. and Canada. Overseas shipments have been slow to recover after more than 60 countries banned beef from the two countries when they found their first mad-cow cases in 2003, wiping out billions of dollars in exports.

Source: Bloomberg