USDA to reduce mad cow testing program by 90 pct

By Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government will scale down
its mad cow surveillance program by 90 percent to reflect a
smaller presence of the disease in the United States, but
reduced testing should not slow efforts to reopen foreign
markets to U.S. beef, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said
on Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will reduce its
cattle-testing level to 40,000 head per year. That will be down
from an average of about 30,000 head each month since June
2004, after discovery of animals with the disease prompted
fears that resulted in Japan, Korea and other countries banning
U.S. beef.

The reduced testing level, to take effect after 30 days,
will cost $8 million a year, down from $1 million per week at
the height of testing. USDA said it will focus on the “most
at-risk animals” that show telltale signs of the disease.

“It’s time that our surveillance efforts reflect what we
now know is a very, very low level of BSE (bovine spongiform
encephalopathy) in the United States,” said Johanns.

The enhanced program, which was initially scheduled to run
for 12 to 18 months, has tested more than 759,000 animals —
far more than initially planned — and was responsible for
finding two of the three cases of the brain-wasting cattle
ailment in the United States.

USDA officials have said the testing program was designed
only to gauge the prevalence of the disease. Public health is
guarded by rules that protect cattle feed from contamination
and require meatpackers to remove the brains and spinal cords
from older cattle, they contend, not additional testing.

“Those who are attempting to cause consumers to believe
that somehow they’re protected by testing really aren’t being
fair with consumers,” said Johanns. “It’s pretty blunt, but
it’s true,” he said.

USDA said the new guidelines are science-based and provide
testing at a level 10 times higher than international standards
proposed by the World Organization of Animal Health.

In April, Johanns said mad cow disease hits fewer than one
in 1 million U.S. adult cattle, “an incredibly low prevalence”
of the disease which is likely to decline.

Still, critics have argued that reducing the testing
program sends a message to Americans and U.S. beef importers
that USDA is being less cautious and taking fewer precautions
to protect animal and public health.

“We’re appalled by the rollback of the surveillance program
and feel they could be playing Russian roulette with Americans
health,” said Mike Hansen, a spokesman with Consumers Union.

Many countries including Japan and South Korea shut their
markets to U.S. beef in 2003 after America’s first case of mad
cow disease was discovered. Despite intense lobbying by the
Bush administration, top export markets remain closed.

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, the top Democrat on the Agriculture
Committee, urged USDA to ensure that any changes to the BSE
testing program do not cause further market delays.

“The Japanese appear ready to take advantage of any gap as
an excuse to drag out this trade dispute further,” he said.

U.S. beef exports this year are estimated at 1.0 billion
lbs, down nearly 60 percent from 2003.

The new testing level “should have no effect on
reestablishing trade with our trading partners,” said National
Cattlemen’s Beef Association spokesman Gary Weber, “because all
the safeguards in place that protect the safety of beef and
beef products are internationally recognized.”

Johanns said the United States has been making progress
with Japan and South Korea toward reopening their markets to
U.S. beef. He added USDA will monitor its surveillance program
and consult with trading partners on any planned changes.