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Release No. 0042.04
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Transcript of Remarks by Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman before the Senate Agriculture Committee -
Washington, D.C.-
January 27, 2004
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SECRETARY VENEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thanks to all the members of the Committee for the opportunity to appear here today, and thank you for holding this hearing.
I also want to thank you all for your kind comments about the process that USDA has gone through over the past just over a month as we confronted this issue which we hoped we'd never have to deal with.
In the interest of time, I would like to submit my comments for the record in writing and along with an attached timeline [BSE Chronology] of what happened—I think that was included in our comments -- and then just summarize and follow through on a few of the issues.
As you know, on December 23rd, we received word that a tissue sample taken as part of our routine surveillance system had tested presumptive positive for BSE. We had in place a BSE response plan, which was first developed in 1990 and has been continually updated since then to reflect the latest knowledge about the disease and the lessons learned from other countries that have had cases of BSE.
Upon hearing of the BSE find, we immediately began to implement the plan. We began an investigation to determine the origin of the cow and to identify and locate her offspring and cohorts. Ultimately, DNA tests and other documentation confirmed that the animal originated on an Alberta dairy farm. We focused much of our efforts on 81 animals that we know came from the Canadian birth herd. But international standards also tell us that animals of special significance are those born within a year before or after the positive animal. This two-year window is based on animals that are likely to have consumed the same feed source. Given that standard, we've now determined that there are 25 out of the 81 animals that fit in that two-year window around the birth of the index cow. Based upon statistical examination of culling rates, we would have expected to find that only 11 of those 25 animals would still be found alive. In fact, we have found 14 of those 25 animals of significance.
So from a statistical standpoint our tracing efforts to date have been remarkable. All animals tested in this process so far have tested negative. Although the investigation is ongoing, given the estimates of the number culled it is unlikely that we will find all the remaining animals. Even in the case of those animals that are not found, we would not expect them to pose a significant risk to public health or animal health.
First, we know that based on the international experience, even at the height of the BSE in the United Kingdom it was rare to find more than one or two positive animals in a single herd. The Harvard Risk Assessment also found that, that the risk of spread of BSE in the U.S. is very low.
Second, our protection systems, including those enhancements we announced September 30th, are those, which protect us from widespread spread of this disease.
As part of our trace-forward of the products, we determined that high-risk products such as brain and spinal cord did not -- did not -- enter the food system. Nevertheless, we issued a recall of all of the meat that came out of that plant for the day in question.
We sent a sample of the index cow for confirmation to the World Organization for Animal Health Reference Laboratory in England. We decided to immediately inform the public on December 23rd prior to the ultimate confirmation in England, based upon our confidence in the accuracy of the tests conducted by our scientists at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. On December 30th one week after the find, I announced a series of actions to further enhance our already strong safeguards that protect the public health and animal health and to help maintain consumer confidence. These included an immediate ban on nonambulatory or so-called downer animals from the food system and further restrictions on specified risk materials such as brain and spinal cord issue from entering the food supply.
Now at this point I'd like to answer one of the questions raised by Senator Daschle who indicated that there wouldn't be a guarantee on downers from other countries. In fact, once we announced these regulations and then put them in the Federal Register as interim final rules on the 12th of January, we then required the same treatment or equivalent treatment from other countries, and our exporting partners have now implemented the same or similar regulations to those that we announced on the 30th.
We also announced on December 30th that the meat from any cattle tested for BSE will be held until a test has been confirmed negative -- a so-called "test and hold" policy. We were able to act quickly on these actions because of the advanced planning we had undertaken after the find in Canada but before the find on December 23 in the U.S.
We also announced on December 30 that we will be expediting the implementation of a verifiable system of national animal identification, and I've heard a lot of interest in that subject today. Our goal is a nationwide system that is uniform, consistent and efficient.
In keeping with our commitment to continually review our systems, I also announced that an international panel of experts would be convened to review our investigative efforts and recommend possible further enhancements. They arrived in the U.S. last week and began that review.
This International Review Team is a subcommittee of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Foreign Animal and Poultry Diseases.
Our officials have had a positive exchange with them and provided all the information that they have requested. The International Review Team will now compile its report for submission in about two weeks, and we look forward to their findings and their recommendations.
All of the actions that we are taking are in addition to the strong safeguards that we had in place before December 23, some of which I've already alluded to.
As you may know, in November 2001 an independent risk assessment by Harvard University found that based on those existing safeguards BSE is highly unlikely to become established in the United States should the disease be detected in our country. As a result of the Harvard analysis we announced additional preventative actions such as increased surveillance and the testing of certain ground beef products for central nervous system tissue.
In 2003 we asked Harvard to reassess the situation taking into account the BSE find in Canada in May of 2003. In August, Harvard reaffirmed the findings of the initial study.
Throughout this process we have been committed to maintaining public health safety and consumer confidence in our systems. Some 90 percent of U.S. produced beef is consumed domestically, and all indications are that the confidence of the U.S. consumer in the safety of American beef remains very strong. We believe this is due in part to the quick and aggressive steps that we took to protect public health.
Unfortunately most of our export markets -- including our key buyers: Japan, Mexico, Korea and others -- immediately closed their markets to U.S. beef after the December 23rd announcements. The loss of exports had an immediate impact on the cattle market resulting in an initial drop of 15 to 20 percent in cattle prices on cash and futures markets.
However, prices have strengthened over the past couple of weeks, and markets are now down just 5 to 8 percent from the levels prior to the BSE finding, with current cattle prices above year-ago levels.
egaining our export markets is a top priority for this administration. We are pleased that Poland has become the first country to reinstate imports of U.S. beef, and we continue efforts with our trading partners to resume trade. Within days of this finding we dispatched USDA Senior Trade Advisor David Hegwood and Dr. Chuck Lambert our Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs to Japan and South Korea to explain the investigation and the rigorous safeguards that we already had in place.
Earlier this month, US Trade Representative Zoellick and I each had very encouraging meetings with the Japanese trade minister, and Ambassador Zoellick announced just yesterday that he will go to Japan the second week in February to discuss the WTO and the beef issue with high-level officials in Japan.
Two weeks ago I had a lengthy conversation with Japan's Minister of Agriculture Kamei to impress upon him the importance of finding a practical solution to allow resumption of trade and releasing into commercial channels beef that was shipped to Japan prior to December 23.
The minister stated that Japan is looking forward to resuming trade. Dr. J. B. Penn, USDA's Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, is returning this evening after leading a delegation of USDA and FDA officials -- including Dr. Crawford who came home early to be here today but was on most of the trip. And they had discussions in Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and South Korea.
These visits have been well received, and discussions will continue following the completion of our investigation.
We've also had a team visit China to discuss our response actions. In addition, I've had numerous conversations with the ministers from Canada, Mexico, the Philippines and others on an ongoing basis to keep them informed of our progress.
It's important to note that both Canada and the Philippines have allowed at least a portion of their markets to remain open to our beef. Dr. Penn and Mr. Bill Hawks, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, traveled to Mexico for productive discussions earlier this month. Just yesterday I again spoke with Secretary Usabiaga, my counterpart in Mexico, and Under Secretary Hawks will be in Mexico again next week.
On January 16, I hosted a meeting of my counterparts from Canada and Mexico, Minister Speller from Canada and Secretary Usabiaga from Mexico. We agreed to develop an enhanced consultative process to facilitate a consistent North American response. In addition, technical teams from Japan and Mexico spent several days in the United States meeting with technical experts at USDA and the Food and Drug Administration.
The Japanese team also traveled to the state of Washington to review the investigation there and the Mexicans visited processing facilities in Colorado. Another Mexican delegation has been visiting the U.S. this week.
Our efforts to restore our foreign markets continues to be a top priority, and we urge our trading partners to resume trade based on sound scientific principals.
In summary, our investigation has made a lot of headway in the past five weeks. We have further enhanced our protection systems. Our food supply and the public health remain protected, and consumer confidence in the beef supply has been maintained.
We are working diligently to restore our export markets.
I am very proud of the accomplishments of our very dedicated USDA team. As our efforts proceed, we will continue to provide complete and timely updates to the public.
Mr. Chairman, I want to again thank you and the members of the committee for holding this hearing today. I look forward to discussing all of these issues with the committee members.
Thank you very much.
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