Controlled-Risk – Thoughts From The Middle of Nowhere

I see that the US and Canada might get <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aUf0L2lZAzfM&refer=canada">`Controlled-Risk' Status for <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym></a>. The article claims this status might help us get some of our lost export markets back. I'm not so sure. <a href="http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20070313/650000000020070313180856E6.html">South Korea has indicated</a> that no mater what status we get from OIE, they are going to continue their official/unofficial trade barrier to our beef. Maybe in other markets, <a href="http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20070311a1.html">like Japan</a>, this will help since the change in status indicates meat from animals under 30 months of age is safe but Japan has arbitrarily set 20 months as their standard to prevent to much US beef from coming in, but I doubt it. n nI wonder how this move will affect R-Calf's continued pursuit of shutting down the US border to Canadian beef? They are always quoting OIE statistics to support their position that <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> has compromised their herds and the cattle need to be held out, but if the OIE gives them `Controlled-Risk' Status, their objections will kind of become hypocritical. With the meltdown at R-Calf though they will probable just ignore this and move on as if it never happened. Bulldoze ahead no matter what. Quite the philosophy. n nDo not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is silly, the latter a mark of prudence. Democritus