[they're heeere ... Will] http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010129/ts/madcow_usa_dc_5.html [links] Monday January 29 6:36 PM ET Farm Groups Aim for Full Mad-Cow Rule Compliance By Randy Fabi and Lisa Richwine WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Farm groups said on Monday they felt confident U.S. regulations were strong enough to defend against mad cow disease, and promised not to break the rules by feeding their cattle on livestock remains. The pledge came after representatives from cattle and feed groups met with government officials in Washington to discuss whether the United States needs to bolster its defenses against the brain-wasting illness. Gary Weber, executive director of regulatory affairs at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said he was confident U.S. regulations were solid enough to keep the disease from causing a health crisis in the United States as it has in Europe. ``We believe the basic authority to enforce regulations is really bulletproof,'' Weber told reporters after the meeting. In Europe, where the mad cow epidemic continues to spread, more than 80 people have died of the human form of the disease, new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Weber said the key to keeping mad cow out of the United States lay in making sure all feed makers and farmers follow rules designed to stop the disease from spreading if it is detected in U.S. cattle. ``We want 100 percent compliance,'' Weber said. Industry groups planned efforts to raise awareness about federal requirements among their members, he added. ``Positive'' Meeting The meeting, which was scheduled last November, was held as U.S. regulators kept 1,200 Texas cattle in quarantine for fear of exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) -- better known as mad cow disease. ``It was a positive meeting,'' said Linda Detwiler, senior staff veterinarian for the U.S. Agriculture Department. ``It shows the government and the industry are working toward a common goal -- compliance with the feed ban, continued vigilance in the ports and continued surveillance in the United States.'' The FDA last week quarantined about 1,200 cattle at a Texas feed lot to see if feed eaten by the animals contained meat-and-bone meal made from other ruminant animals. Purina Mills later confirmed its Gonzales, Texas, mill was responsible for producing the suspect meal and announced a recall of the product, saying it was no longer using meat-and-bone meal in its feed. Brad Kerbs, the company's chief executive officer, attended Monday's meeting but was not available for comment. Since 1997, FDA regulations have banned such feed from going to cattle because scientists believe the disease spreads when cows eat the remains of other infected animals. FDA officials are analyzing test results from feed given to the Texas cattle and hope to know ``within 24 to 48 hours'' if the feed contained banned material, an FDA spokesman said Monday. Many scientists believe that humans who catch the disease can do so as a result of eating BSE-infected beef. U.S. officials have admitted that some banned feed could have found its way into the country within the past decade but they have yet to find it. The U.S. government asserts that ``no cases of BSE have been confirmed in the U.S.A. despite 10 years of active surveillance.'' Farm groups and government officials were expected to meet within the ``next few weeks'' to follow up on feed ban compliance, Weber said. Food safety advocates said the Texas quarantine has highlighted loopholes in U.S. efforts to prevent mad cow disease. They are skeptical of government and industry assurances that the disease could never happen here, citing the failure of similar food pledges in the past. Last summer, after repeated U.S. government and industry assurances that the use of gene-modified grain in U.S. foods was not a problem, a significant scare erupted over a gene-altered corn variety not approved for human consumption because it was suspected of causing allergies. Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
