May 20, 2003

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Mark Ritchie, 612-870-3400, cell 612-385-7921

Ben Lilliston, 301-270-4787

Minneapolis, Minnesota - The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure that U.S. farmers, consumers and livestock herds are fully protected from the possible spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, from the contaminated herd identified in Alberta, Canada earlier today.

"Given the total integration of the Canadian, U.S. and Mexican beef industries, largely the result of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we know that this long-delayed announcement will be devastating to family farmers and ranchers in all three countries," stated Mark Ritchie, President of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

"In this day of industrialized beef production and liberalized trade, it is disingenuous to say this is about one isolated cow. The BSE cow spent only the last three years on this farm. With an incubation period of up to six years for this disease, we need to be tracing not only that cow's history, but all the herds it has been a part of," continued Ritchie. "The most likely method of transmission is through animal feed. If that's the case, we need to investigate and identify all animals that consumed that feed -- this investigation may cover multiple farms and multiple countries."

Over 500,000 live cattle were shipped to the U.S. from Alberta in 2002. There is no labeling on beef in U.S. grocery stores as to whether it was produced in the U.S. or Canada.

"This kind of health danger demands the clear application of the precautionary principle," said Ritchie. "If there were suspicions about the presence of mad cow then there should have been an absolute ban on any part of the infected cow from entering the food supply. What we know is that the cow was sent off to a rendering plant and that the products of rendering plants are used to feed other animals, which can easily end up back in the human food chain."

If this mad cow contamination causes a plunge in beef and feed crop prices, IATP is calling upon the U.S. government to make money available to help the nearly one million beef producers and feed crop farmers in the U.S.. It is also time for Congress to enact a total ban on the feeding of animal parts of any kind to farm animals. It is a dangerous practice that threatens the livelihood of our nation's farmers and the public health.

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy promotes resilient family farms, rural communities and ecosystems around the world through research and education, science and technology, and advocacy.

For regular updates on the mad cow situation and Canada, go to: www.agobservatory.org