I missed this with being so busy and the Brucellosis problem in Montana, but the <a href="http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2007-05-22T193630Z_01_N22412272_RTRIDST_0_CANADA-USA-CANADA-BEEF-COL.XML">US received a "controlled risk" status</a> for <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). This is really good news. Under this status age restrictions for beef are no longer valid and any country who maintians one opens themselves up to a trade case with the WTO. <br />n<br />n<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,275004,00.html">Japan says they <u>will not</u> ease their import restrictions</a> even with this new classification. They are hedging their bets by saying, "It is important to respond to this issue by taking concrete steps in line with scientific facts to ensure food safety and consumers' trust." They don't want to open up their market but they know they are going to have to now.<br />n<br />nThe only bad news in this for <a href="http://www.r-calfusa.com/">some people</a> in the US cattle industry is that Canada got the same "controlled risk" status as the US. This means the efforts to stop the <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> rule allowing older Canadian cattle into the US should be dead. I'm sure people will continue to try and find a way to stop the Canadian cattle. You know what this is called? Hypocrisy. If they want other countries to open up to US beef but continue to fight that Canadian beef in the US they are hypocrites. Real simple. I'm sure this won't bother some people but I can't stand it. That's why I haven't recently been saying anything against <a href="http://southeastfarmpress.com/news/012507-bse-imports/">proposed rule</a> when it came out. It seemed hypocritical to me to try to block Canada from something we want other countries to accept from us. <br />n<br />n<strong>In the name of Hypocrites, doctors have invented the most exquisite form of torture ever known to man: survival. Edward Everett Hale</strong>