Wednesday, July 9, 2008

EXPORT OF BEEF AND BEEF PRODUCTS TO KOREA USDA FSIS NOTICE EXPIRES: 7/1/09 OPI: OPPD

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE WASHINGTON, DC

FSIS NOTICE

45-08 7/9/08

DISTRIBUTION: Electronic

NOTICE EXPIRES: 7/1/09 OPI: OPPD

EXPORT OF BEEF AND BEEF PRODUCTS TO KOREA

I. PURPOSE This notice provides information about the export of beef and beef products to Korea. In particular, it sets out: - what products are eligible for export to Korea; - what products are ineligible for export to Korea; and - the certification requirements and that a Statement of Verification (SOV) letter is no longer required to accompany exported beef and beef products to Korea if the slaughter dates are on or after the establishment’s Quality System Assessment (QSA) Program approval date.

II. ELIGIBLE ESTABLISHMENTS AND PRODUCTS TO EXPORT TO KOREA A. Korean beef importers and U.S. exporters have reached a commercial understanding that, as a transitional measure, only U.S. beef from cattle less than 30- months of age will be shipped to Korea. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has set up a voluntary QSA Program to verify that beef from participating plants will be from cattle less than 30 months of age. Exporting establishments may choose to participate in the AMS QSA Program that verifies that the beef being certified is from cattle less than 30 months of age. 1. For establishments that participate in the AMS QSA Program, the following statement can appear in Remarks on the FSIS Form 9060-5: “The beef or beef products were produced at a verified establishment under the USDA Less than 30 Month Age Verification Quality System Assessment (QSA) Program for Korea.” 2. Participation in this program is not required for issuance of the FSIS 9060-5. However, at this time, Korea will not accept at port-of-entry shipments of beef without the QSA Program statement in the Remarks section of the FSIS 9060-5, and Korean 2

quarantine officials will return shipments without the statement to the owner/agent of the product. 3. A list of AMS QSA Program approved establishments and their approval dates can be obtained from the AMS website at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateM&n avID=GradingCertificationandVerfication&leftNav=GradingCertificationandVerfication&p age=QSAPProgram B. Eligible beef and beef products, including bone-in beef, deboned beef, offal, and variety meats, are to be derived from cattle slaughtered on or after the slaughter establishment's QSA Program approval date and need to be produced under an approved AMS Export Verification (EV) program for beef to Korea. Federally inspected establishments producing beef and beef products intended for export to Korea need to participate in an AMS, EV program and be listed on the "Official Listing of Eligible Suppliers for USDA Bovine EV Program". Inspection program personnel can access the list at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRD3105269 NOTE: FSIS personnel can view eligible product lists by establishment in Outlook at: Public Folders/All Public Folders/OFO/Export Verification Program and on the FSIS intranet: https://inside.fsis.usda.gov/fsis/emp/static/partnerweb/index.jsp. C. In addition, deboned beef products from cattle less than 30 months of age that were processed at eligible establishments before October 5, 2007 are eligible. The beef is to have been produced according to the AMS EV program in place at the time of production. A list of these eligible establishments and their specific periods of eligibility are available at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRD3105269. NOTE: Information about approval of warehouses, cold storages, or similar facilities that export beef and beef products to Korea can be obtained from FSIS Notice 39-07 (Jun 26, 2007; PDF only).

III. INELIGIBLE PRODUCTS Under the current EV program described in II.B. above, the following products are ineligible for export to Korea: 1. beef and beef products derived from cattle imported from Canada for immediate slaughter; 2. beef and beef products derived from cattle imported from Canada that were resident in the U.S. less than 100 days prior to slaughter; 3. beef and beef products derived from beef and beef products imported into the U.S. from third countries; and 4. Processed beef products. FSIS NOTICE 45-08 3

IV. LABELING REQUIREMENTS Labels applied to Porterhouse steaks and T-bone steaks are to include a notation that these cuts come from animals less than 30 months of age.

V. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS A. Beef and beef products from eligible establishments with slaughter dates on or after the establishment’s QSA Program approval date are to be accompanied by: 1. FSIS 9060-5 (MPG series dated 07/19/2001 or MPH series dated 12/14/2006) Meat and Poultry Export Certificate of Wholesomeness. For establishments that participate in the AMS QSA Program, the following statement can appear in Remarks on the FSIS Form 9060-5: “The beef or beef products were produced at a verified establishment under the USDA Less than 30 Month Age Verification USDA Quality System Assessment (QSA) Program for Korea.” 2. FSIS Form 9305-7, dated 07/08/2008, Certificate for Export of Beef and Beef Products to the Republic of Korea. NOTE: Inspection program personnel can obtain this form in Outlook at: Public Folders/All Public Folders/Agency Issuances/Forms/FSIS 9000 Series. 3. For this product AMS will no longer provide a SOV letter, and such a letter is not required to issue export certification. B. Boneless beef from eligible establishments and with processing dates before October 5, 2007 are to be accompanied by: 1. FSIS 9060-5 (MPG series dated 07/19/2001 or MPH series dated 12/14/2006) Meat and Poultry Export Certificate of Wholesomeness. The following statement must be typed in the Remarks section: “These products were derived from cattle under 30 months of age at the time of slaughter and were slaughtered before October 5, 2007, in accordance with the EV program for Korea and stored in the United States.” 2. FSIS Form 9305-4 (06/07/2006), Certificate for Export of Beef and Beef Products to the Republic of Korea. NOTE: Inspection program personnel can obtain this form in Outlook at: Public Folders/All Public Folders/Agency Issuances/Forms/FSIS 9000 Series. 3. FSIS personnel can view eligible product lists by establishment in Outlook at: Public Folders/All Public Folders/OFO/Export Verification Program. 4. A Statement of Verification letter from AMS is required as part of the export certification process for product produced before October 5, 2007 (see FSIS Notice 4

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNotices/45-08.pdf

BSE YOUNGEST AGE STATISTICS UNDER 30 MONTHS

http://bseyoungestage.blogspot.com/

http://flounder068.vox.com/library/post/bse-youngest-age-statistics-under-30-months.html

----- Original Message ----- From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr." <flounder9@VERIZON.NET> To: <BSE-L@LISTS.AEGEE.ORG> Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 9:29 AM Subject: [BSE-L] OIE Recognition of the BSE Status of Members RESOLUTION No. XXI (Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 27 May 2008)

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

OIE Recognition of the BSE Status of Members RESOLUTION No. XXI (Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 27 May 2008)

snip...

CONSIDERING THAT

1. Adoption of subsequent Resolutions* since the 67th General Session of the OIE International Committee has established a procedure for annually updating a list of Members, categorised by their BSE risk according to the provisions of theTerrestrial Code,

2. During the 70th General Session, the International Committee adopted Resolution No. XVIII asking Members applying for a BSE risk evaluation to meet part of the costs sustained by the OIE Central Bureau in the evaluation process,

3. During the 72nd General Session, the OIE adopted Resolution No. XXI requesting the Director General to inform Delegates of Members whose country or zones are recognised with regard to their BSE risk status should annually confirm during the month of November whether their risk status and the criteria by which their status was recognised have remained unchanged,

4. Information published by the OIE is derived from declarations made by the official Veterinary Services of Members. The OIE is not responsible for inaccurate publication of a Member disease status based on inaccurate information, changes in epidemiological status or other significant events that were not promptly reported to the Central Bureau, subsequent to the time of declaration of the BSE risk status.

THE COMMITTEE

RESOLVES THAT

1. The Director General publish the following list of Members recognised as having a negligible BSE risk in accordance with Chapter 2.3.13. of the Terrestrial Code:

Australia, Argentina, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Singapore, Sweden and Uruguay.

2. The Director General publish the following list of Members recognised as having a controlled BSE risk in accordance with Chapter 2.3.13. of the Terrestrial Code:

Austria Belgium Brazil Canada Chile Chinese Taipei Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lichtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Mexico Netherlands Poland Portugal Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain Switzerland United Kingdom United States of America

AND

3. The Delegates of these Members will immediately notify the Central Bureau if BSE occurs in their countries or their territories.

_________

(Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 27 May 2008)

* 67th General Session (GS) Resolution No (Res) XVI and Res XI; 69th GS Res XV, and 71st GS Res XXII, 72nd GS Res XXIV and Res XXI..

http://www.oie.int/eng/info/en_statesb.htm?e1d6

IN A NUT SHELL ;

(Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 23 May 2006)

11. Information published by the OIE is derived from appropriate declarations made by the official Veterinary Services of Member Countries. The OIE is not responsible for inaccurate publication of country disease status based on inaccurate information or changes in epidemiological status or other significant events that were not promptly reported to the Central Bureau,

http://www.oie.int/eng/Session2007/RF2006.pdf

bought and paid for by your local cattle dealer $$$

IN my opinion the WOAH/OIE is nothing more than a organized bunch of lobbyist for the members Countries in support of there INDUSTRY, bound together as one, with the only purpose of open trade for there precious commodities and futures. Speaking only of BSE, they failed at every corner, and then just said to hell with it, well just trade all strains of TSE globally.

snip...

NOW, ask yourself why not one single mad cow has been documented in the USA since the Honorable Phyllis Fong of the OIG did the end around Johanns, Dehaven et al ??? found two atypical BSE or BASE cases and they flat shut it down i tell you. IF the OIE gives a favorable rating, IF the OIE gives any other rating but the lowest, poorest possible BSE/TSE rating, the OIE will have sealed there fate once and for all, because most of the world knows the truth about the USA and there mad cows. THE OIE will then be able to stand side by side with the USA, and proudly claim to have sold there soul to the devil, all for a buck, commodities and futures, to hell with human health. A 'CONTROLLED' RATING IS EXACTLY what the OIE will get if that is what they classify the USA as a 'CONTROLLED RATING'. IT will be controlled by Johanns, Dehaven, and GW. IT WILL BE RIGGED in other words. but that is nothing new, it's been rigged for years. ...

snip...SEE FULL TEXT with facts and sources @ ;

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

OIE Recognition of the BSE Status of Members RESOLUTION No. XXI (Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 27 May 2008)

http://usdavskorea.blogspot.com/2008/06/oie-recognition-of-bse-status-of.html

http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=1566

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Export Requirements for the Republic of Korea IMPORT HEALTH REQUIREMENTS FOR U.S. BEEF AND BEEF PRODUCTS

http://usdavskorea.blogspot.com/2008/06/export-requirements-for-republic-of.html

Why Americans, As Well as Koreans, Should Be Worried About Mad Cow Tainted USA Beef

By Terry S. Singeltary Sr. May 15, 2008

Straight to the Source

Web Note: This is an important commentary by Terry S. Singeltary Sr., on a recent Business Week story on the controversy in South Korea over their government's lifting on the ban on conventional (non-organic) beef, despite the fact that the USDA is still allowing slaughterhouse waste and blood and manure to be fed to cows, and refusing to test all cows at slaughter. See the Mad Cow section of the OCA website for in-depth information. Terry is a regular blogger on the OCA website on Mad Cow issues.

Ronnie Cummins

One Korean official says the probability of a human being catching a mad cow disease by eating U.S. beef is like the one of a golf player scoring a hole-in-one and then being killed by lightning.

this is typical BSe. you here industry groups comment 'your more likely to get hit by a car than die from CJD'. well, maybe so, but my mother and many more did not die from getting hit by a car, they died from CJD, my mothers being the hvCJD (confirmed), and my neighbors mother died from CJD (confirmed). the UKBSEnvCJD _only_ theory is incorrect. there are more strains of mad cow than the UK BSE in beef to nvCJD in humans in the UK. The deception by the USDA, FDA, and the Bush administration about mad cow disease, CJD, and all Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy over the past 8 years have been outrageous, to a point of being criminal. I am vested in nothing, but the truth.

snip...see full text ;

http://www.grassrootsnetroots.org/articles/article_12387.cfm

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Concerned Americans against Mad Cow Disease STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY with Koreans May 13, 2008

http://usdavskorea.blogspot.com/2008/05/concerned-americans-against-mad-cow.html

http://flounder068.vox.com/library/post/concerned-americans-against-mad-cow-disease-statement-of-solidarity-with-koreans-may-13-2008.html

http://www.koreantopnews.com/story.php?title=USDA_VS_KOREA_typical_or_atypical_BSe_Concerned_Americans_against_Mad_Cow_Disease_STATEMENT_OF_SOLIDARITY_with_Koreans_May_13_2008

Sunday, June 29, 2008 South Korea bans rallies against US beef imports

http://usdavskorea.blogspot.com/2008/06/south-korea-bans-rallies-against-us.html

South Korea ... whom PD Diary portrayed as having probably died of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the human form of mad cow disease, there is a moment when ... See all stories on this topic

ISN'T THIS WHAT THE U.S.A. DOCTOR AND MEDIA PUBLISHED FIRST ???

Portsmouth woman may have human form of Mad Cow Disease

06:38 PM EDT on Monday, April 7, 2008

Reported by: Wayne Carter PORTSMOUTH, Va. --

A 22-year-old Portsmouth woman is close to dying, and family says doctors believe the human equivalent of Mad Cow Disease could be the reason.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease , or CJD, is so rare that there has only been one other possible case ever in the United States.

The Portsmouth Health Department is looking into the case because the variant form of the disease comes from eating infected meat, and Aretha Vincent's family says she's never left the United States.

http://www.wvec.com/news/portsmouth/stories/wvec_local_040708_mad_cow_disease.3fd7e5c7.html

please see full text ;

http://cjdmadcowbaseoct2007.blogspot.com/2008/06/portsmouth-woman-did-not-die-of-mad-cow.html

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 [Docket No. FDA-2008-N-0369] Ruminant Feed Ban Support Project; ``Response to RFA-FDA-08-008''

http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2008/07/docket-no-fda-2008-n-0369-ruminant-feed.html

MAD COW DISEASE terminology UK c-BSE (typical), atypical BSE H or L, and or Italian L-BASE

http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2008/03/mad-cow-disease-terminology-uk-c-bse.html

Please remember, the last two mad cows documented in the USA i.e. Alabama and Texas, both were of the 'atypical' BSE strain, and immediately after that, the USDA shut down the testing from 470,000 to 40,000 in the U.S. in 2007 out of about 35 million cattle slaughtered. also, science is showing that some of these atypical cases are more virulent to humans than the typical UK BSE strain ;

***Atypical forms of BSE have emerged which, although rare, appear to be more virulent than the classical BSE that causes vCJD.***

Progress Report from the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center

An Update from Stephen M. Sergay, MB, BCh & Pierluigi Gambetti, MD

April 3, 2008

http://www.aan.com/news/?event=read&article_id=4397&page=72.45.45

In this context, a word is in order about the US testing program. After the discovery of the first (imported) cow in 2003, the magnitude of testing was much increased, reaching a level of >400,000 tests in 2005 (Figure 4). Neither of the 2 more recently indigenously infected older animals with nonspecific clinical features would have been detected without such testing, and neither would have been identified as atypical without confirmatory Western blots. Despite these facts, surveillance has now been decimated to 40,000 annual tests (USDA news release no. 0255.06, July 20, 2006) and invites the accusation that the United States will never know the true status of its involvement with BSE.

In short, a great deal of further work will need to be done before the phenotypic features and prevalence of atypical BSE are understood. More than a single strain may have been present from the beginning of the epidemic, but this possibility has been overlooked by virtue of the absence of widespread Western blot confirmatory testing of positive screening test results; or these new phenotypes may be found, at least in part, to result from infections at an older age by a typical BSE agent, rather than neonatal infections with new "strains" of BSE. Neither alternative has yet been investigated.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no12/06-0965.htm

Cases of atypical BSE have only been found in countries having implemented large active surveillance programs. As of 1st September 2007, 36 cases (16 H, 20 L) have been described all over the world in cattle: Belgium (1 L) [23], Canada (1 H)15, Denmark (1 L)16, France (8 H, 6 L)17, Germany (1 H, 1 L) [13], Italy (3 L)18, Japan (1 L) [71], Netherlands (1 H, 2 L)19, Poland (1 H, 6 L)20, Sweden (1 H)21, United Kingdom (1 H)22, and USA (2 H)23. Another H-type case has been found in a 19 year old miniature zebu in a zoological park in Switzerland [56]. It is noteworthy that atypical cases have been found in countries that did not experience classical BSE so far, like Sweden, or in which only few cases of classical BSE have been found, like Canada or the USA.

And last but not least, similarities of PrPres between Htype BSE and human prion diseases like CJD or GSS have been put forward [10], as well as between L-type BSE and CJD [17]. These findings raise questions about the origin and inter species transmission of these prion diseases that were discovered through the BSE active surveillance.

full text 18 pages ;

http://www.vetres.org/index.php?option=article&access=standard&Itemid=129&url=/articles/vetres/pdf/2008/04/v07232.pdf

EFSA Scientific Report on the Assessment of the Geographical BSE-Risk (GBR) of the United States of America (USA)

Summary of the Scientific Report

The European Food Safety Authority and its Scientific Expert Working Group on the Assessment of the Geographical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Risk (GBR) were asked by the European Commission (EC) to provide an up-to-date scientific report on the GBR in the United States of America, i.e. the likelihood of the presence of one or more cattle being infected with BSE, pre-clinically as well as clinically, in USA. This scientific report addresses the GBR of USA as assessed in 2004 based on data covering the period 1980-2003.

The BSE agent was probably imported into USA and could have reached domestic cattle in the middle of the eighties. These cattle imported in the mid eighties could have been rendered in the late eighties and therefore led to an internal challenge in the early nineties. It is possible that imported meat and bone meal (MBM) into the USA reached domestic cattle and leads to an internal challenge in the early nineties.

A processing risk developed in the late 80s/early 90s when cattle imports from BSE risk countries were slaughtered or died and were processed (partly) into feed, together with some imports of MBM. This risk continued to exist, and grew significantly in the mid 90’s when domestic cattle, infected by imported MBM, reached processing. Given the low stability of the system, the risk increased over the years with continued imports of cattle and MBM from BSE risk countries.

EFSA concludes that the current GBR level of USA is III, i.e. it is likely but not confirmed that domestic cattle are (clinically or pre-clinically) infected with the BSE-agent. As long as there are no significant changes in rendering or feeding, the stability remains extremely/very unstable. Thus, the probability of cattle to be (pre-clinically or clinically) infected with the BSE-agent persistently increases.

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/science/tse_assessments/gbr_assessments/573.html

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/etc/medialib/efsa/science/tse_assessments/gbr_assessments/573.Par.0004.File.dat/sr03_biohaz02_usa_report_v2_en1.pdf

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

SCRAPIE USA UPDATE JUNE 2008 NOR-98 REPORTED PA

http://nor-98.blogspot.com/2008/06/scrapie-usa-update-june-2008-nor-98.html

Tuesday, June 3, 2008 SCRAPIE USA UPDATE JUNE 2008 NOR-98 REPORTED PA

http://nor-98.blogspot.com/2008/06/scrapie-usa-update-june-2008-nor-98.html

Thursday, April 03, 2008 A prion disease of cervids: Chronic wasting disease 2008

1: Vet Res. 2008 Apr 3;39(4):41

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/2008/04/prion-disease-of-cervids-chronic.html

Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy TME

http://transmissible-mink-encephalopathy.blogspot.com/

Communicated by: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. <flounder9@verizon.net>

[In submitting these data, Terry S. Singeltary Sr. draws attention to the steady increase in the "type unknown" category, which, according to their definition, comprises cases in which vCJD could be excluded. The total of 26 cases for the current year (2007) is disturbing, possibly symptomatic of the circulation of novel agents. Characterization of these agents should be given a high priority. - Mod.CP]

http://pro-med.blogspot.com/2007/11/proahedr-prion-disease-update-2007-07.html

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/askus/f?p=2400:1001:6833194127530602005::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1010,39963

There is a growing number of human CJD cases, and they were presented last week in San Francisco by Luigi Gambatti(?) from his CJD surveillance collection.

He estimates that it may be up to 14 or 15 persons which display selectively SPRPSC and practically no detected RPRPSC proteins.

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/1006-4240t1.htm

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/2006-4240t1.pdf

2008

The statistical incidence of CJD cases in the United States has been revised to reflect that there is one case per 9000 in adults age 55 and older. Eighty-five percent of the cases are sporadic, meaning there is no known cause at present.

http://www.cjdfoundation.org/fact.html

Terry S. Singeltary Sr. P.O. Box 42 Bacliff, Texas USA 77518

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