캐나다 18번째 광우병 감염 소, 거의 2주 동안이나 대중에게 공개하지 않고 숨겨와
R-CALF USA 2010년 3월 10일
캐나다식품안전청은 2010년 2월 15일 앵구스종의 72개월령 육우가 광우병에 감염된 채 도축된 사실을 확인했으나 거의 2주 동안이나 대중들에게 이러한 사실을 공개하지 않고 숨겨온 사실을 강력하게 비판하는 내용입니다.
R-CALF USA의 의장인 Bill Bullard는 ” 만약 우리가 이같은 사실을 알아내지 못했다면, 일반인들은 결코 이번 일을 알아내지 못했을 것이다”라며 캐나다 당국을 비판했다고 합니다.
OIE 공식통계로는 이번 캐나다의 광우병 발생은 17번째이나 미국 축산업계의 이해를 대변하는 R-CALF USA는 2003년 미국의 광우병 사례가 캐나다에서 수출된 소라는 이유로 캐나다의 광우병 통계로 집계하여 18번째라고 발표했습니다.
R-CALF USA는 30개월령 이상의 캐나다산 쇠고기 수입조치가 미국의 광우병 위험을 높인 잘못된 조치라며 미국 농무부를 상대로 소송을 벌인 바 있습니다.
R-CALF USA는 “캐나다의 데이터에 따르면, 캐나다는 2009년에 34,617건의 광우병 검사만을 실시했을 뿐이다. 2008년에는 48,804 두의 소에 대해 광우병 검사를 실시했다. 2007년에는 거의 59,000두 가량의 광우병 검사를 실시했다. 2010년 1월에는 단지 3,536 두만이 광우병 검사를 받았다.”고 비판하고 있습니다.
또한 Bill Bullard는 ”캐나다의 광우병 검사는 자발적이며, 매우 제한된 수의 검사에 따라 상당한 수의 광우병 양성 소가 검출되었다는 사실에 기반해 볼 때, 캐나다의 광우병 유병율은 미국 농무부가 추산한 것보다 더 높다. 30개월 이상의 소를 수입하는 조치(OTM Rule)는 미 농무부의 위험평가 모델에 따르면 향후 20년 동안 19마리의 광우병 감염 소가 미국으로 수출된 결과를 초래할 것이라고 예측한 바 있다.”고 지적하고 있습니다.
R-CALF USA의 이러한 주장은 우리에게 시사해주는 바가 엄청납니다. 현재 미국은 캐나다로부터 30개월령 이상의 살아 있는 생우와 도축된 쇠고기를 모두 수입하고 있기 때문에 미 농무부의 위험평가 모델에 따르더라도 미국 자체가 광우병으로부터 안전하지 않습니다. 따라서 이러한 주장은 그냥 흘려 넘길 수 없습니다.
우선 캐나다 정부가 한국 정부의 쇠고기 수입금지 조치에 대해 WTO에 제소를 했는데, 이에 대한 대응자료로 사용될 수 있습니다.
둘째, 오는 11월 미 의회 중간선거 이후로 예정하고 있는 한미FTA 미 의회 비준을 앞두고 미국 정부의 쇠고기 수입위생조건 완화 압력이 거세지고 있는 현 상황에서 미국 축산단체인 R-CALF USA가 주장과 미 농무부의 위험평가 모델은 우리의 대응자료로 사용될 수 있습니다.
미국 축산업자들조차도 30개월 이상의 쇠고기가 광우병 위험으로부터 안전하지 않다고 하는데, 미국정부와 한국정부가 통상 이익을 위해서 한국국민의 건강과 안전을 소홀히 하는 조치를 취한다면 제2의 촛불시위가 일어날 것이라고 생각합니다.
R-CALF USA가 발표한 성명자료의 원문은 다음과 같습니다.
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Hidden from Public for Almost 2 Weeks: Canada’s 18th BSE-Infected Cow
Feb. 25 Confirmation of BSE-Positive Cow Kept Secret
출처 : R-CALF USA March 10, 2010 Billings, Mont.
http://www.r-calfusa.com/news_releases/2010/100310-hidden.htm
– Yet again, R-CALF USA learned through the rumor mill yesterday that Canada had detected the country’s 18th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a 72-month-old Angus cow. Although Canadian officials were purported to have notified the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) last week, a phone call this morning to OIE revealed that Canada had not yet notified OIE of this latest discovery. However, R-CALF USA Communications Coordinator Shae Dodson was told via telephone by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that Canada, indeed, had discovered yet another case of BSE. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) later verified CFIA’s report.
“The CFIA said the BSE-positive case was confirmed Feb. 25, 2010, which means the CFIA and all other governments who knew about this latest BSE case kept it a secret from the public for almost two weeks, said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. “If we had not discovered this information, the public may never have known.”
At six years of age, this particular animal would have been born in 2003 or 2004, making her the 18th Canadian-born BSE case and the 11th BSE-positive animal eligible to be exported to the United States. In November 2007, USDA implemented the OTM (over-30-months) Rule that allows the U.S. to import into the U.S. these high-risk Canadian cattle over 30 months of age, as long as such cattle were born after March 1, 1999.
Already this year, well over 40,000 older Canadian cows and bulls have been imported into the United States for domestic slaughter.
“Consumers – now more than ever – should be telling their grocers they want the products in the meat counter labeled with country-of-origin information so they can decide on their own whether to avoid products from countries with ongoing disease problems, particularly now that USDA chooses not to disclose such important disease information,” said R-CALF USA President/Region VI Director Max Thornsberry, a Missouri veterinarian who also chairs the group’s animal health committee.
“Forty organizations representing consumers, the cattle industry and other livestock and farming interests sent a joint letter to USDA in November 2009 urging the new Administration to restore the United States’ weakened import standards that are exposing the U.S. to a heightened risk of BSE,” said Thornsberry. “It’s well past time for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to listen to U.S. citizens and overturn the OTM Rule that is allowing the continuous introduction of BSE into the United States.
“There are no restrictions on these higher-risk OTM cattle when they enter the United States,” he continued. “These higher-risk cattle are allowed to commingle with the U.S. herd, enter the U.S. food supply and enter the non-ruminant U.S. animal feed system. USDA has an absolute duty to protect the U.S. cattle herd as well as U.S. consumers from the introduction of BSE that is known to be occurring under the OTM Rule, and R-CALF is again calling on USDA to immediately rescind the OTM Rule.”
“Since implementation of the 2007 OTM Rule, Canada has detected seven new cases of BSE, six of which met USDA’s age requirement to be imported into the United States,” Bullard said. “It is alarming that while Canada’s BSE problem is ongoing, Canada has significantly reduced its surveillance testing and likely is detecting only a fraction of the BSE cases in the Canadian herd. This haphazard approach to BSE is endangering not only U.S. beef consumers, but the U.S. cattle herd, and we want USDA to immediately halt Canadian cattle imports.”
According to Canadian data, Canada tested only 34,617 cattle for BSE in 2009. In 2008, 48,804 cattle were tested. In 2007, approximately 59,000 head were tested, and in January 2010, only 3,536 Canadian cattle were tested for the disease.
“Canada’s BSE testing is voluntary, and based on the significant numbers of BSE-positive cattle detected under very limited testing, Canada’s BSE prevalence rate is likely far higher than USDA estimated when it predicted that the OTM Rule would result in the importation of 19 BSE-infected cattle during the 20 years covered by USDA’s risk modeling,” Bullard pointed out. “The result is that the United States is assuming a much higher risk for the introduction of BSE than the negligible risk that USDA claims.”
R-CALF USA, the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, five national consumer groups and several individual ranchers have a pending lawsuit against USDA’s OTM Rule in a South Dakota federal court. As a result of this litigation, the court ordered USDA to reopen the OTM Rule and “to revise any provisions of the OTM Rule it deems necessary.”
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R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on trade and marketing issues. Members are located across 47 states and are primarily cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and/or feedlot owners. R-CALF USA directors and committee chairs are extremely active unpaid volunteers. R-CALF USA has dozens of affiliate organizations and various main-street businesses are associate members. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
