A tenth case of <a href="http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2007/2007-05-03-02.asp"><acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> in Canada has been reported</a>. Why is this of such interest to me? It has ignited the debate on <acronym title="Country of Origin Labeling">COOL</acronym> and expanding imports of Canadian cattle into the US.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, introduced legislation today that would prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture, <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym>, from expanding imports of Canadian cattle until the agency implements a system that allows consumers to see in which country their meat was produced.</blockquote><br />n<br />n<blockquote>National Farmers Union President Tom Buis called the latest case of <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> "very troubling."<br />n<br />n"It becomes even more disturbing when you consider that <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> has proposed to re-open the Canadian border and allow live cattle imports born after March 1, 1999 and beef of any age into the United States," said Buis. "The Canadian border should remain closed until mandatory <acronym title="Country of Origin Labeling">COOL</acronym> is implemented and Canada can demonstrate that its problem is under control."</blockquote><br />n<br />n<blockquote>Speaking for the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America, R-CALF USA, CEO Bill Bullard agrees.<br />n<br />nFrom his office in Billings, Montana, Bullard said, "The U.S. Department of Agriculture has failed its responsibility to adequately protect the U.S. cattle herd, the U.S. beef supply, U.S. export markets and U.S. consumers from Canada�s widespread problem with bovine spongiform encephalopathy."<br />n<br />n"Despite a very limited amount of testing, six cases of <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> have been confirmed in Canadian cattle born after Canada implemented its feed ban in 1997 � despite <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym>�s unsupported insistence that the Canadian feed ban has been effective in preventing the spread of the disease," Bullard said.<br />n<br />n"Why is it that U.S. farmers and ranchers have to pay the expense of a lawsuit in order to force <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> to do the job that hard-working taxpayers have already paid the agency to do," asked R-CALF USA Region I Director Margene Eiguren. "There is something wrong with our government when economic trade goals are allowed to continually trump legitimate health and safety concerns." </blockquote><br />n<br />nThis is all fine and dandy. I only have one problem with all of this. The powers that be in Washington want to tie <acronym title="Country of Origin Labeling">COOL</acronym> and <acronym title="National Animal Identification System">NAIS</acronym> together to make things extremely difficult for cattle producers. You all know <a href="http://noanimalid.com">how I feel about <acronym title="National Animal Identification System">NAIS</acronym></a> so the thought of resurrecting mandatory <acronym title="National Animal Identification System">NAIS</acronym> as part of the <acronym title="Country of Origin Labeling">COOL</acronym> plan frightens me. This doesn't need to happen but all these people pushing for <acronym title="Country of Origin Labeling">COOL</acronym> because of the Canada <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> issue will probable doom us all. Action taken in the heat of the moment usually results in problems down the road and this needs to be considered here. Remember the Patriot Act was a put into effect immediately following 9/11 and now we look back on it as maybe the wrong response to a crisis situation.<br />n<br />nIf I really thought <acronym title="Country of Origin Labeling">COOL</acronym> would help American cattlemen I would probably be more for it but since I don't the issue doesn't really resonate with me. The thing I am afraid of is <acronym title="Country of Origin Labeling">COOL</acronym> is going to cost cattle producers a lot of money to implement, and if they tie <acronym title="National Animal Identification System">NAIS</acronym> with it that will be the case, which will then be a net money loser for me. Hysteria will drive us over this cliff before people can think. Just watch it happen folks. The cliff is right ahead, can we avoid it?<br />n<br />n<strong>History is a vast early warning system. Norman Cousins</strong>