COOL update
Recent media reports speculating
about the World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel process regarding
Canada and Mexico’s challenge to U.S. mandatory Country of Origin Labeling
(COOL) have resulted in more than a few media calls to the Canadian Cattlemen’s
Association (CCA).
The CCA does not comment on
speculation, noting that the official compliance panel decision remains
confidential until the WTO publishes it, but offers the following general
comment about Canada’s COOL challenge at the WTO:
The CCA believes in the strength of
Canada’s arguments that were put forth to the panel and we continue to hold the
view that COOL discriminates against live imports of cattle and hogs into the
U.S. marketplace. The CCA believes that the only way to bring COOL into
compliance is through legislative change, either by repeal or amendment of the
COOL statute. Such action must result in elimination of the segregation of
imported livestock in the U.S.
Until the U.S. comes into compliance
with its WTO obligations, the CCA will continue to advocate that the Government
of Canada prepare to impose prohibitively high tariffs on key U.S. exports to
Canada, including beef.
The CCA has been working hard with
its U.S. allies to get COOL fixed. In late July, CCA leadership discussed COOL
at length at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) summer conference
in Denver.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Minister Gerry Ritz also
attended the conference. In reference to the ongoing WTO dispute, Ritz told
delegates that if successful in its challenge, Canada will seek to retaliate as
quickly as possible and will target everything from California wine to Minnesota
mattresses. He continued the straight talk on COOL during a special guest
appearance at the CCA Semi-Annual in Charlottetown,
PEI.
The potential for retaliatory
tariffs continues to command the attention of the U.S. Congress. In the August 5
edition of Action News, we told you about the letter 110 Members of
Congress sent to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and U.S. Trade Representative
requesting that, should the WTO rule against the U.S., the Secretary of
Agriculture ‘rescind the final rule while Congress works to permanently resolve
the issue.’
The negative impact of Canadian and
Mexican retaliation to the state of Iowa – a leading supporter of COOL – was
discussed in an op-ed published in the Des Moines Register. The Corn Refiners
Association in Washington, D.C. said $300 million worth of annual exports could
be impacted, including commodities such as pork, corn, some prepared foods while
the corn wet milling industry could lose $500 million in annual sales to Mexico
if corn sweeteners are targeted.
They suggest a solution put forth by
a broad coalition of U.S. industries that have no stake in the beef industry:
should the WTO find that COOL is in violation of the U.S.’s international trade
obligations, the Secretary of Agriculture should immediately suspend COOL until
Congress can take legislative action to resolve the
dispute.
The most recent
assessments (and reassessments) were published in June 2005 (Table I; 18), and
included the categorisation of Canada, the USA, and Mexico as GBR III. Although
only Canada and the USA have reported cases, the historically open system of
trade in North America suggests that it is likely that BSE is present also in
Mexico.
IN SHORT, AND IN
A NUT SHELL ;
(Adopted by the
International Committee of the OIE on 23 May 2006)
11. Information
published by the OIE is derived from appropriate declarations made by the
official Veterinary Services of Member Countries. The OIE is not responsible for
inaccurate publication of country disease status based on inaccurate information
or changes in epidemiological status or other significant events that were not
promptly reported to the Central Bureau,
Wednesday,
February 12, 2014
USDA/APHIS
NOTICE: Final Rule Regarding Imports and BSE Effective March 4, 2014
>>>I
remember what happened with mad cow disease BSE testing, and the incident where
they were using HEALTHY CATTLE BRAINS for testing, yes, brains they new were
negative for BSE, and this was when there was suppose to be officials on site.
go figure... <<<
Date: June 21,
2007 at 2:49 pm PST
Owner and
Corporation Plead Guilty to Defrauding Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)
Surveillance Program
An Arizona meat
processing company and its owner pled guilty in February 2007 to charges of
theft of Government funds, mail fraud, and wire fraud. The owner and his company
defrauded the BSE Surveillance Program when they falsified BSE Surveillance Data
Collection Forms and then submitted payment requests to USDA for the services.
In addition to the targeted sample population (those cattle that were more than
30 months old or had other risk factors for BSE), the owner submitted to USDA,
or caused to be submitted, BSE obex (brain stem) samples from healthy
USDA-inspected cattle. As a result, the owner fraudulently received
approximately $390,000. Sentencing is scheduled for May 2007.
snip...
Topics that will
be covered in ongoing or planned reviews under Goal 1 include:
soundness of BSE
maintenance sampling (APHIS),
implementation of
Performance-Based Inspection System enhancements for specified risk material
(SRM) violations and improved inspection controls over SRMs (FSIS and APHIS),
snip...
The findings and
recommendations from these efforts will be covered in future semiannual reports
as the relevant audits and investigations are completed.
4 USDA OIG
SEMIANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS FY 2007 1st Half
-MORE
Office of the
United States Attorney District of Arizona FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For Information
Contact Public Affairs February 16, 2007 WYN HORNBUCKLE Telephone: (602)
514-7625 Cell: (602) 525-2681
CORPORATION AND
ITS PRESIDENT PLEAD GUILTY TO DEFRAUDING GOVERNMENT’S MAD COW DISEASE
SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM
PHOENIX -- Farm
Fresh Meats, Inc. and Roland Emerson Farabee, 55, of Maricopa, Arizona, pleaded
guilty to stealing $390,000 in government funds, mail fraud and wire fraud, in
federal district court in Phoenix. U.S. Attorney Daniel Knauss stated, “The
integrity of the system that tests for mad cow disease relies upon the honest
cooperation of enterprises like Farm Fresh Meats. Without that honest
cooperation, consumers both in the U.S. and internationally are at risk. We want
to thank the USDA’s Office of Inspector General for their continuing efforts to
safeguard the public health and enforce the law.” Farm Fresh Meats and Farabee
were charged by Information with theft of government funds, mail fraud and wire
fraud. According to the Information, on June 7, 2004, Farabee, on behalf of Farm
Fresh Meats, signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (the
“USDA Agreement”) to collect obex samples from cattle at high risk of mad cow
disease (the “Targeted Cattle Population”). The Targeted Cattle Population
consisted of the following cattle: cattle over thirty months of age;
nonambulatory cattle; cattle exhibiting signs of central nervous system
disorders; cattle exhibiting signs of mad cow disease; and dead cattle. Pursuant
to the USDA Agreement, the USDA agreed to pay Farm Fresh Meats $150 per obex
sample for collecting obex samples from cattle within the Targeted Cattle
Population, and submitting the obex samples to a USDA laboratory for mad cow
disease testing. Farm Fresh Meats further agreed to maintain in cold storage the
sampled cattle carcasses and heads until the test results were received by Farm
Fresh Meats.
Evidence
uncovered during the government’s investigation established that Farm Fresh
Meats and Farabee submitted samples from cattle outside the Targeted Cattle
Population. Specifically, Farm Fresh Meats and Farabee submitted, or caused to
be submitted, obex samples from healthy, USDA inspected cattle, in order to
steal government moneys.
Evidence
collected also demonstrated that Farm Fresh Meats and Farabee failed to maintain
cattle carcasses and heads pending test results and falsified corporate books
and records to conceal their malfeasance. Such actions, to the extent an obex
sample tested positive (fortunately, none did), could have jeopardized the
USDA’s ability to identify the diseased animal and pinpoint its place of origin.
On Wednesday, February 14, 2007, Farm Fresh Meats and Farabee pleaded guilty to
stealing government funds and using the mails and wires to effect the scheme.
According to their guilty pleas:
(a) Farm Fresh
Meats collected, and Farabee directed others to collect, obex samples from
cattle outside the Targeted Cattle Population, which were not subject to payment
by the USDA;
(b) Farm Fresh
Meats 2 and Farabee caused to be submitted payment requests to the USDA knowing
that the requests were based on obex samples that were not subject to payment
under the USDA Agreement;
(c) Farm Fresh
Meats completed and submitted, and Farabee directed others to complete and
submit, BSE Surveillance Data Collection Forms to the USDA’s testing laboratory
that were false and misleading;
(d) Farm Fresh
Meats completed and submitted, and Farabee directed others to complete and
submit, BSE Surveillance Submission Forms filed with the USDA that were false
and misleading;
(e) Farm Fresh
Meats falsified, and Farabee directed others to falsify, internal Farm Fresh
Meats documents to conceal the fact that Farm Fresh Meats was seeking and
obtaining payment from the USDA for obex samples obtained from cattle outside
the Targeted Cattle Population; and
(f) Farm Fresh
Meats failed to comply with, and Farabee directed others to fail to comply with,
the USDA Agreement by discarding cattle carcasses and heads prior to receiving
BSE test results. A conviction for theft of government funds carries a maximum
penalty of 10 years imprisonment. Mail fraud and wire fraud convictions carry a
maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment. Convictions for the above referenced
violations also carry a maximum fine of $250,000 for individuals and $500,000
for organizations. In determining an actual sentence, Judge Earl H. Carroll will
consult the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing
ranges. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a
sentence.
Sentencing is set
before Judge Earl H. Carroll on May 14, 2007. The investigation in this case was
conducted by Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alejandro Quintero, United States
Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General. The prosecution is being
handled by Robert Long, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR-07-00160-PHX-EHC RELEASE NUMBER: 2007-051(Farabee)
# # #
Saturday, August 30,
2014
Maine Firm Recalls Ribeye and Carcass Products That May Contain Specified
Risk Materials SRM TSE PRION aka mad cow type disease
Saturday, June
14, 2014
Rep. Rosa DeLauro
(D-CT) Calls for Briefing on Beef Recalled for Mad Cow Potential Rep. Rosa
DeLauro (D-CT)
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease North America
2014
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease have now been
discovered in a wide verity of species across North America. typical C-BSE,
atypical L-type BASE BSE, atypical H-type BSE, atypical H-G BSE, of the bovine,
typical and atypical Scrapie strains, in sheep and goats, with atypical Nor-98
Scrapie spreading coast to coast in about 5 years. Chronic Wasting Disease CWD
in cervid is slowly spreading without any stopping it in Canada and the USA and
now has mutated into many different strains. Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy
TME outbreaks. These Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease
have been silently mutating and spreading in different species in North America
for decades.
The USDA, FDA, et al have assured us of a robust Triple BSE TSE prion
Firewall, of which we now know without a doubt, that it was nothing but ink on
paper. Since the 1997 mad cow feed ban in the USA, literally tons and tons of
banned mad cow feed has been put out into commerce, never to return, as late as
December of 2013, serious, serious breaches in the FDA mad cow feed ban have
been documented. The 2004 enhanced BSE surveillance program was so flawed, that
one of the top TSE prion Scientist for the CDC, Dr. Paul Brown stated ; Brown,
who is preparing a scientific paper based on the latest two mad cow cases to
estimate the maximum number of infected cows that occurred in the United States,
said he has "absolutely no confidence in USDA tests before one year ago" because
of the agency's reluctance to retest the Texas cow that initially tested
positive.
see ;
The BSE surveillance and testing have also been proven to be flawed, and
the GAO and OIG have both raised serious question as to just how flawed it has
been (see GAO and OIG reports). North America has more documented TSE prion
disease, in different documented species (excluding the Zoo BSE animals in the
EU), then any other place on the Globe. This does not include the very
likelihood that TSE prion disease in the domestic feline and canine have been
exposed to high doses of the TSE prion disease vid pet food. To date, it’s still
legal to include deer from cwd zone into pet food or deer food. Specified Risk
Material i.e. SRM bans still being breach, as recently as just last month.
nvCJD or what they now call vCJD, another case documented in Texas last
month, with very little information being released to the public on about this
case? with still the same line of thought from federal officials, ‘it can’t
happen here’, so another vCJD blamed on travel of a foreign animal disease from
another country, while ignoring all the BSE TSE Prion risk factors we have here
in the USA and Canada, and the time that this victim and others, do spend in the
USA, and exposed to these risk factors, apparently do not count in any way with
regard to risk factor. a flawed process of risk assessment.
sporadic CJD, along with new TSE prion disease in humans, of which the
young are dying, of which long duration of illness from onset of symptoms to
death have been documented, only to have a new name added to the pot of prion
disease i.e. sporadic GSS, sporadic FFI, and or VPSPR. I only ponder how a
familial type disease could be sporadic with no genetic link to any family
member? when the USA is the only documented Country in the world to have
documented two different cases of atypical H-type BSE, with one case being
called atypical H-G BSE with the G meaning Genetic, with new science now showing
that indeed atypical H-type BSE is very possible transmitted to cattle via oral
transmission (Prion2014). sporadic CJD and VPSPR have been rising in Canada,
USA, and the UK, with the same old excuse, better surveillance. You can only use
that excuse for so many years, for so many decades, until one must conclude that
CJD TSE prion cases are rising. a 48% incease in CJD in Canada is not just a
blip or a reason of better surveillance, it is a mathematical rise in numbers.
More and more we are seeing more humans exposed in various circumstance in the
Hospital, Medical, Surgical arenas to the TSE Prion disease, and at the same
time in North America, more and more humans are becoming exposed to the TSE
prion disease via consumption of the TSE prion via deer and elk, cattle, sheep
and goats, and for those that are exposed via or consumption, go on to further
expose many others via the iatrogenic modes of transmission of the TSE prion
disease i.e. friendly fire. I pondered this mode of transmission via the victims
of sporadic FFI, sporadic GSS, could this be a iatrogenic event from someone
sub-clinical with sFFI or sGSS ? what if?
Two decades have passed since Dr. Ironside first confirmed his first ten
nvCJD victims in 1995. Ten years later, 2005, we had Dr. Gambetti and his first
ten i.e. VPSPR in younger victims. now we know that indeed VPSPR is
transmissible. yet all these TSE prion disease and victims in the USA and Canada
are being pawned off as a spontaneous event, yet science has shown, the
spontaneous theory has never been proven in any natural case of TSE prion
disease, and scientist have warned, that they have now linked some sporadic CJD
cases to atypical BSE, to atypical Scrapie, and to CWD, yet we don’t here about
this in the public domain. We must make all human and animal TSE prion disease
reportable in every age group, in ever state and internationally, we must have a
serious re-evaluation and testing of the USA cattle herds, and we must ban
interstate movement of all cervids. Any voluntary effort to do any of this will
fail. Folks, we have let the industry run science far too long with regards to
the TSE prion disease. While the industry and their lobbyist continues to funnel
junk science to our decision policy makers, Rome burns. ...end
REFERENCES
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion Disease North America
2014
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
MAD COW USDA TSE PRION COVER UP or JUST IGNORANCE, for the record AUGUST
2014
Monday, July 28,
2014
Mitigating the
Risk of Transmission and Environmental Contamination of Transmissible Spongiform
Encephalopathies 2013 Annual Report
what is the BIG SECRET about this recent case of nvCJD in Texas ???
Monday, June 02, 2014
*** Confirmed Human BSE aka mad cow Variant CJD vCJD or nvCJD Case in Texas
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
*** Questions linger in U.S. CJD cases 2005, and still do in 2014 ***
Sunday, March 09, 2014
A Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) Lookback Study: Assessing the Risk of
Blood Borne Transmission of Classic Forms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
FDA TSEAC CIRCUS AND TRAVELING ROAD SHOW FOR THE TSE PRION DISEASES
Sunday, April 06, 2014
SPORADIC CJD and the potential for zoonotic transmission there from, either
directly or indirectly via friendly fire iatrogenic mode, evidence to date
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
*** Detection of Infectivity in Blood of Persons with Variant and Sporadic
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease ***
Thursday, August 21, 2014
FDA Switzerland Reason For Recall Blood product, collected from a donor who
was at risk for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), was distributed
2014-05-16
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Blood reference materials from macaques infected with variant
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease agent
Friday, January 10, 2014
vpspr, sgss, sffi, TSE, an iatrogenic by-product of gss, ffi, familial type
prion disease, what it ???
Monday, August 18, 2014
*** Barriers to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Autopsies, California and the
USA
PLEASE REMEMBER ;
The Akron, Ohio-based CJD Foundation said the Center for Disease Control
revised that number in October of 2004 to about one in 9,000 CJD cases per year
in the population group age 55 and older.
HAVE YOU GOT YOUR CJD QUESTIONNAIRE ASKING REAL QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO
ROUTE AND SOURCE OF THE TSE AGENT THAT KILLED YOUR LOVED ONE ???
if not, why not...
Friday, November 30, 2007
CJD QUESTIONNAIRE USA CWRU AND CJD FOUNDATION
politics, politics, politics $$$
trade, nothing else matters (Stanley Prusiner) Nobel
Prize winner for the Prion.
one
only has to look at Creekstone, and the attempt to test for BSE there from by an
industry, because the government would not do it, and the International trade
markets would not have that, so what did they do when the BSE atypical strains
started showing up during the infamous bse enhanced surveillance program, the
usda simply shut it down, went back to testing numbers so low, you could not
find a case of mad cow disease unless it walked up and dropped downer right in
front of you. THEN, oh it gets better for sure, after that fateful day on
December 23, 2003, the day the USDA et al lost their BSE gold card, the shoe was
then on the other foot, and the USDA et al went to the OIE and between the two
of them, abolished the BSE GBR risk assessments, and went to the BSE MRR
assessments (minimal risk region), which then allowed the legal trading of all
strains of BSE globally. it's all about money folks, trade now with big ag, and
nothing else matters...
--------
Original Message --------
Subject: US SENATOR AND STAN THE MAN SLAM USDA
''DAMNING TESTIMONY''
Date:
Wed, 03 Mar 2004 15:15:24 -0600
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." To: BSE-l
Greetings List
members,
damning testimony
below. be sure to _first_ open up real player competely, then paste your url in
there. this worked best for me.........TSS
US SENATOR AND STAN THE MAN SLAM USDA ''DAMNING
TESTIMONY''
Senator Michael
Machado from California
''USDA
does not know what's going on''. ''USDA is protecting the industry''. ''SHOULD
the state of California step in''
Stanley Prusiner
''nobody has ever ask us to
comment''
''they don't want us
to comment''
''they never
ask''
i tried to see Venemon,
after Candian cow was discovered with BSE. went to see lyle. after talking with
him...
absolute ignorance...
then thought i should see
Venemon...
it was clear his
entire policy was to get cattle bonless beef prods across the border...
nothing else mattered...
his aids confirmed this...
5 times i tried to see Venemon,
never worked...
eventually met
with carl rove the political...
he is the one that arranged meeting with Venemon...
just trying to give you a sense
of the distance...
healh public
safety...
was never
contacted...
yes i believe that
prions are bad to eat and you can die from them...END
Dr. Stan bashing Ann Veneman - 3
minutes
Recall Authority and Mad
Cow Disease: Is the Current System Good for Californians?
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
JOINT HEARING
AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES AND SELECT COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT - MACHADO, ORTIZ, and
SPEIER, Chairs
Choose a
RealPlayer video --->
Selected excerpts:
Opening Statement by Senator Michael Machado
Elisa Odibashian - Consumers
Union
Anthony Iton - Alemeda
County Health
USDA's
"memorandum of understanding"
Dave Louthan - Killed the Mad Cow
Dennis Laycraft - Canadian
Cattlemen's Association
Stanley
Prusiner - Discoverer of Prions
Steven DeArmond - Professor of Neuropathology
Entire 5 hour hearing - The
California Channel
(scroll down to
"022404 Senate Info-Hearing")
http://www.calchannel.com/february2004.htm
Related:
Beef recall secrecy fought - Under fire, state
health officials are trying to get the USDA to change rule Sacramento Bee -
02/25/04
Mad cow censoring gets
legislators' goat - Tainted-meat trail kept from public by deal with feds San
Francisco Chronicle - 02/25/04
please note, this hearing and it's video was later
removed from the internet. ...TSS
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Minister Gerry Ritz also
attended the conference. In reference to the ongoing WTO dispute, Ritz told
delegates that if successful in its challenge, Canada will seek to retaliate as
quickly as possible and will target everything from California wine to Minnesota
mattresses. He continued the straight talk on COOL during a special guest
appearance at the CCA Semi-Annual in Charlottetown,
PEI.