Author Topic: U.S Border on track to reopen Mar. 7  (Read 118 times)

Lincoln

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U.S Border on track to reopen Mar. 7
« on: February 09, 2005, 01:28:52 PM »
U.S. border on track to reopen to Cdn. cattle
CTV.ca News Staff

The U.S. is on track to reopen its border to some Canadian cattle as planned on March 7.

Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell met Wednesday with his American counterpart, Mike Johanns.

He said officials were working toward lifting the ban next month on Canadian cattle younger than 30 months of age, which are less likely than older cattle to contract mad cow disease.

"Secretary (Mike) Johanns indicated quite clearly that they continue to work towards the March 7 deadline,'' said Mitchell.

Mitchell led a delegation to Washington and has been lobbying U.S. officials for several days.

Johanns has been under intense pressure from U.S. meatpackers and Republican senators to keep the border closed to Canadian cattle.

He told a U.S. Senate hearing last week that the administration continues its work to reopen the border, but that it's still reviewing its ban on beef from Canadian cows older than 30 months.

In December, the United States Department of Agriculture announced a plan to ease restrictions on Canadian cattle and beef imports put in place after a BSE-infected cow was discovered in Alberta in May, 2003.

Since then, however, three other cows from Canada have been identified with carrying the brain-wasting disease, and that plan was put into question.

Whether a March 7 reopening becomes reality could hinge on reports from a team of USDA officials sent to investigate Canada's animal feed safeguards.

The team is expected to report back to Johanns in mid-February and again at the end of March.

"This information will be critical as we consider whether any adjustments to current policy are warranted," Johanns said.

'No guarantees'

CTV Washington Bureau Chief Tom Clark said there are "no guarantees" that the border will reopen on schedule.

"The agriculture secretary to the United States has said before that he may change his mind, one minute before midnight on March 6, so there's still a long way to go."

Clark also pointed out that there's one thing the Americans are more concerned about than Canadian beef moving into the U.S., "and that is American beef moving into Japan."

Japan has banned American beef imports since Dec. 2003, when the United States discovered its first case of BSE in a Canadian-born Holstein in Washington State.

Before the ban, Japan was the most lucrative overseas market for the U.S. In 2003, it bought $1.7 billion US worth of American beef in 2003.

And Japan moved a step closer to partially lifting that ban after a government panel Tuesday accepted U.S. assurances that a specific grade of A40 meat would be free of mad cow disease.

"The Americans don't want to do anything that's going to upset that . . . potential deal with Japan, so they're being very cautious about Canada," said Clark.

"They don't want all of a sudden to open the floodgates to Canadian beef, find out there's another case of BSE, and have Japan cut off the American exports of beef to Japan."

With files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press

http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1107969645985_19?hub=topstories

Most hip-hop is now keyboard driven, because the majority of hip-hop workstations have loops and patches that enable somebody with marginal skills to put tracks together,...

Unfortunately, most hip-hop artists gravitated towards the path of least resistance by relying on these pre-set patches. As a result, electric guitar and real musicians became devalued, and a lot of hip-hop now sounds the same.

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*Jamal*

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Re: U.S Border on track to reopen Mar. 7
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2005, 02:05:49 PM »
Everything really is newsworthy these days....
 

white Boy

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Re: U.S Border on track to reopen Mar. 7
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2005, 04:02:15 PM »
is this good or bad?
 

Lincoln

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Re: U.S Border on track to reopen Mar. 7
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2005, 04:10:43 PM »
is this good or bad?

Good for Canadians and American consumers (cheaper goods) but bad for US farmers.

Most hip-hop is now keyboard driven, because the majority of hip-hop workstations have loops and patches that enable somebody with marginal skills to put tracks together,...

Unfortunately, most hip-hop artists gravitated towards the path of least resistance by relying on these pre-set patches. As a result, electric guitar and real musicians became devalued, and a lot of hip-hop now sounds the same.

Paris