Canada Bans "Downer" Cows From Slaughterhouses That Ship to U.S.

Jan. 15, 2004
Associated Press

Canada is blocking the slaughter of sick or injured cattle at packing plants that ship meat to the United States, thereby escaping a renewed ban by that country.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was forced to ban the so-called "downer" animals from export slaughterhouses because the U.S. government had recently enforced [? instituted] the policy in all its plants and would only import beef that faced the same scrutiny.

"Canada, as an exporting country, is required to adopt these or equivalent measures when producing beef and beef products in registered establishments for export to the U.S.," the federal agency said in an industry letter posted on its Web site Tuesday evening. "The interim restriction on the slaughter of downer animals in Canada will ensure that market access is maintained while Canadian and American officials discuss alternative approaches, taking into account the measures that Canada already has in place to protect food safety." [See: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/meavia/commun/20040113come.shtml ]

The United States banned live cattle imports when Canada's first homegrown case of mad cow disease was discovered in Alberta last May. But it later opened the border to accept boneless beef from younger animals, which are not [as] susceptible to the disease.

The move is a temporary trade measure, the letter said, and will not apply to plants that only ship beef within Canada.

The inspection agency is currently working on a countrywide removal of downer cattle for human consumption, said Ben Thorlakson, chairman of the Canada Beef Export Federation.

The new restriction, effective Wednesday, will affect the country's two largest plants, Cargill and Lakeside Packers, both in southern Alberta. Together, they account for about 65 percent of all beef processing in Canada.

On Dec. 30, the U.S. Department of Agriculture banned all downers from use in the food chain. It also announced such policies as removing high-risk tissues from older animals, which Canada already had in place.

"It is important that we harmonize all of our measures with the United States," Thorlakson said.

The cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was slaughtered last January in Grande Prairie after it became too sick to stand on its own. It was deemed unfit for humans by a federal inspector and was instead rendered into animal feed. In Washington state last month, a Holstein dairy cow paralyzed due to birth complications was approved by a U.S. inspector, and sent to slaughter. The U.S. recalled all that beef when the cow tested positive for BSE. A genetics test confirmed last week that the diseased Holstein was born on a farm near Calmar, Alberta.

Agriculture Canada says farmers should not transport downer animals for slaughter. This was more a guard against animal cruelty than a food-safety recommendation.

Alberta's largest ranchers' group passed a resolution last month urging the province to enforce a rule banning downers from being shipped to slaughter. "Certainly our intent is that we're not having ill animals entering the food chain," said Ron Glaser of Alberta Beef Producers.