Canadian BSE and US Trade

<a href="http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/06072006/6/n-canada-canada-cows-complicate-seoul-beef-trade-source.html">Canada cows complicate US, Seoul beef trade: source</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>South Korea has told the Bush administration it will not resume beef trade until U.S. slaughterhouses segregate Canadian beef products, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.<br />n<br />nSouth Korea closed its borders to U.S. beef in December 2003 after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was reported. The United States has since brought into effect a number of food preparation safeguards but South Korean government officials are concerned about the effects of mingling U.S. and Canadian beef.<br />n<br />nCanada, which confirmed its sixth home-grown case of mad cow disease on Tuesday, ships cattle and beef from animals under 30 months old into the United States. It has seen twice as many cases of mad cow as the United States, which has a much larger herd.<br />n<br />n"The Korean audit team found problems in U.S. slaughter procedures, such as the (lack of) segregation of Canadian beef," the source said. "Seoul is discussing and waiting for the U.S. to take measures on that issue. Any time the issue is solved (it will) start importing U.S. beef."</blockquote><br />n<br />nSo, another Canadian cow with <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> stops American producers from gaining another export market. This just shows why we should have <acronym title="Country of Origin Labeling">COOL</acronym> here in the US. If the cattle were required to be segregated by country at the packing plant for <acronym title="Country of Origin Labeling">COOL</acronym>, South Korea's requirement would be met. But the <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> and the meat packers don't want <acronym title="Country of Origin Labeling">COOL</acronym> so we are stuck with the situation as is. <br />n<br />nThe export market for American beef to South Korea held up by Canadian cattle. I didn't realize the <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym>'s mission was to protect Canadian Cattlemen.<br />n<br />n<strong>When you betray somebody else, you also betray yourself. Isaac Bashevis Singer</strong>