USDA extends comment period on BSE study

Printed From North Texas e-News == ntxe-news.com

Farm/Ranch
USDA extends comment period on BSE study
By R-CALF USA media release
Aug 9, 2006

Billings, Mont.) - R-CALF USA was pleased to learn today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has granted the organization's request for an extended time period for public comments on the most recent Harvard Risk Assessment on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as Docket Number FSIS-2006-0011.

"We appreciate the FSIS' quick action in extending the comment period on this comprehensive study," R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said. "The cattle industry needs to review the Harvard Risk Assessment very carefully because it is the principle resource used by USDA to decide what level of risk the United States is willing to assume when trading with countries that have a BSE problem."

R-CALF USA submitted a formal request to USDA last week to extend the comment period.

Earlier today, agency officials notified R-CALF USA about the change and told R-CALF USA that comments will be due 30 days after the transcript is made available to the public on USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) website. A formal notice of the extension also will be published in the Federal Register shortly.

The latest Harvard report was made available to the public on July 12, 2006. In Washington, D.C., on July 25, USDA conducted a three-hour technical briefing on this report, but the event was not broadcast live via the Internet, nor did USDA provide the opportunity for the public to listen to the session via conference call. An FSIS spokeswoman said the transcript of the event would not appear on the FSIS website for about three to four weeks after the event. Previously, written comments on the report were to be due Aug. 11, 2006.

"We had a representative at the briefing on July 25^th, but the presenters gave technical details too numerous to capture in notes, thus the reason for our request," Bullard said. "USDA has had this latest report since October - more than seven months - and we felt the original comment period provided insufficient time to evaluate the new assumptions and analyses in the revised Harvard Risk Assessment."

# # #

R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is a national, non-profit organization and is 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 both domestic and international 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 has more than 60 affiliate organizations and various main-street businesses are associate members. For more information, visit http://www.r-calfusa.com/ or, call 406-252-2516.