ASSOCIATED PRESS | July 8, 2003
TORONTO (AP) -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Monday asked President Bush to reopen the border to Canadian beef as quickly as possible after an investigation found no evidence that a recent case of mad cow disease spread beyond a single cow.
The ban on Canadian cattle and beef products by the United States and other countries was imposed after mad cow disease was detected in an Alberta cow on May 20. It has cost the industry millions of dollars a day.
A Canadian investigation validated by a panel of international experts found no evidence the illness spread beyond the lone cow.
The investigation was unable to determine the source of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, as mad cow disease is formally known, and recommended steps Canada should take to safeguard its industry against the illness.
Chretien phoned Bush before the president left for an African trip to explain what Canada has done and ask for the ban to be lifted, a spokesman for the prime minister said.
The spokesman, Steven Hogue, said Bush repeatedly expressed a desire to resolve the issue quickly but provided no timetable.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the president spoke to Chretien on Monday and discussed a variety of issues, including Bush's trip to Africa, the Middle East and the beef issue. The official said the two leaders agreed on the importance of continuing bilateral consultations.
Canadian officials are becoming impatient with the U.S. refusal to lift the ban, even partially.
``We've had a lot of encouraging words from the United States, but it's time we sit down and reach a definitive conclusion on getting those borders open,'' Deputy Prime Minister John Manley said over the weekend.
The U.S. and Canadian cattle industries are tightly integrated, with animals crossing the border in both directions daily before the U.S. ban. Such integration is a problem for other countries that import beef from the United States, with Japan demanding that U.S. products carry labels guaranteeing they contain no Canadian beef. belASSOCIATED PRESS:
