"However, by applying today's circumstances to the criteria USDA and its experts used to reach their decisions, it is clear the agency had insufficient facts with which to accurately assess the risk of BSE in Canada," said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. "R-CALF argued to no avail that USDA needed to obtain more testing data from Canada so it could conduct a proper risk assessment before drawing premature conclusions about the scope of Canada's BSE epidemic. Now that trade has been resumed without first gathering this additional information, the unfolding evidence shows USDA underestimated Canada's BSE problem, and that the key assumptions supporting the Final Rule were not valid." 

USDA and its experts asserted to the Court that they had sufficient evidence to conclude that Canada's BSE problem was waning. USDA experts stated that:

"If Canadian animals were exposed later in life to a dose sufficient to cause disease, it would imply that the Canadian feed ban was ineffective and in-feed infectivity amplified greatly after 1997. In that case, however younger animals, born in 1999 and 2000, would have been exposed to the larger dose and also would have been detected with BSE. This has not happened and indicates the Canadian feed ban is adequately protecting animal health even though it was not absolute precisely at the time of implementation."

"This has now happened and today's facts show even more clearly than when R-CALF USA first filed its lawsuit that this conclusion lacked sound scientific support," Bullard explained.  "Canada has detected BSE in animals that were much younger than USDA and its experts contemplated. Canada has now detected two cases of BSE in cattle born in 2000 and one case in an animal born in 2002, suggesting its feed ban was ineffective, and that in-feed infectivity did, in fact, amplify after 1997."  

USDA and its experts also stated that Canada's BSE infectious load was low, resulting in a "substantially longer" median incubation period for Canada than the median incubation period that occurred in the United Kingdom.  USDA's expert stated:

"The time from infection to clinical BSE ('incubation time') depends on the dose of contaminated feed: when the dose is low, the incubation period is long.  'It is well known that as the force of infection increases over time, the average age at infection decreases and thus the average age at clinical onset of the disease decreases. . .'  I estimate the incubation time in Canada around the time of the feed ban to be 6 to 8 years."

"R-CALF was particularly disturbed by this estimation that Canada's incubation period would be six years or more, particularly since the very first Canadian cow detected with BSE was only 5 years 10 months old and born just one month before Canada implemented its feed ban in 1997," Bullard continued. "Half of Canada's BSE cases have now been detected in cattle born on or after Canada's feed ban, and three of these younger cows were less than 6 years old - 5 years 9 months old; 5 years 11 months old; and, 4 years 2 months old, respectively.

"We now have actual evidence proving that Canada has BSE cases born after its feed ban with incubation periods shorter than USDA and its experts expected," Bullard noted. "These shorter incubation periods, when applied to USDA's decision criteria, reinforces R-CALF's original claim that there was insufficient scientific evidence to conclude that the infectious load in Canada was low."

USDA and its experts reached additional conclusions that are no longer supportable. For example, USDA claimed that:

"The fact that all of the animals were born within a relatively narrow time period and were all approximately 6-8 years of age when diagnosed with BSE indicates that the disease is not widely or randomly distributed in Canada and provides further support for the determination that the prevalence of BSE in Canada is low and the feed ban is effective."

"With BSE-positive cattle now detected in cattle as young as 4 years 2 months old, these conclusions are now even more clearly shown to be inaccurate and need to be revisited," Bullard said. "These recent findings provide further substantiation that there are problems with the effectiveness of the feed ban in Canada."

"It is even more apparent now that the facts that USDA was using to form its conclusions were not accurate," Bullard said. "The actual facts now show that the recent cases of BSE in Canada indicate a different scenario than what USDA earlier assumed, and that the U.S. is exposed to a greater risk than was initially thought while our government continues to accept Canadian beef and cattle imports.

 "The recent detections of younger BSE-positive cattle in Canada, when applied to the decision criteria USDA and its scientists used to reach their conclusions, clearly substantiate R-CALF's position that USDA has underestimated Canada's BSE problem," Bullard asserted. "USDA is remiss by not taking immediate action to protect the integrity and reputation of the U.S. cattle herd. USDA should rescind the Final Rule pending additional BSE testing of all high-risk cattle in Canada, and pending the completion of a comprehensive and scientifically valid risk assessment."

R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on domestic and international trade and marketing issues. R-CALF USA, a national, non-profit organization, is dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA's membership consists primarily of cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and feedlot owners. Its members - over 18,000 strong - are located in 47 states, and the organization has over 60 local and state association affiliates, from both cattle and farm organizations. Various main street businesses are associate members of R-CALF USA. For more information, visit http://www.r-calfusa.com/ or, call 406-252-2516.