The United States, Mexico and Canada agreed yesterday to step up efforts against mad cow disease, but Mexico said its ban on U.S. beef imports will remain in place.
Canadian and U.S. ranchers lost their export markets following the discovery of mad cow disease in Alberta, Canada, in May and in Washington state in December.
Mexican Agriculture Minister Javier Usabiaga, in Washington to meet with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman and Canadian Agriculture Minister Robert Speller, said Mexico’s border would remain closed to U.S. beef until Mexican consumers and officials are satisfied that it is safe.
“The Mexican border will be open to United States meat as soon as the United States implements the measures that they have offered to do,” Mr. Usabiaga said at a press conference. He would not suggest a timeline for resuming trade.
“We have implemented all of the actions that we said we were going to implement,” Ms. Veneman said.
The United States on Dec. 23 announced its first mad cow case in a dairy cow on a farm in Washington state. The fatal affliction, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, eats holes in the brains of cattle and in rare instances has infected humans who eat tainted tissue.
Mexico, Japan, South Korea and dozens of other nations quickly banned U.S. beef after the discovery, shutting off export markets worth more than $3 billion. About 10 percent of U.S. production would be sold overseas.
The loss of markets is expected to increase the beef supply and lower prices — good for American consumers, but a loss for the cattle and beef industry.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a series of measures to assure consumers and trade partners that American beef is safe, such as banning from slaughterhouses animals that are too sick or injured to walk, and keeping nervous system tissue out of the human food chain. The inability to walk can be a symptom of mad cow disease, and nervous tissue is most infectious.
The efforts have worked with consumers, who have not slowed their beef consumption, but not with trade partners.
Despite yesterday’s summit and a series of lower-level meetings between U.S., Japanese and Korean officials, those markets remain closed. The United States and Canada allow limited trade in some beef between the two nations.
A link between the U.S. and Canadian cases — the Washington state cow was born and likely acquired the disease in Alberta — has helped spur a coordinated effort between U.S. and Canadian officials.
And the high level of cattle and beef trade among the three countries spurred yesterday’s meeting and commitment to intensify cooperation, officials said.
“It is vital that we aggressively address BSE to protect food safety and the public health, as well as the health of the North American cattle industry. It is also critical that we have a consistent trade environment on this continent,” Ms. Veneman said.
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