Release No. 0048.05 Joint Statement by Secretary Mike Johanns, United States Department of Agriculture and Minister Andrew Mitchell, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada February 9, 2005 "We were pleased today to have had an opportunity for our first meeting to get better acquainted personally and to discuss matters of mutual importance to agriculture in our two countries. "Each country is the largest customer for the other's food and agriculture products. In addition, our farm economies and our markets are significantly integrated. Thus, it is important that we stay keenly aware of developments and issues that affect us both and be able to deal with them effectively. "We enjoyed a candid discussion today. We discussed expanded cooperation in pursuit of a successful conclusion to the Doha negotiations, now entering a crucial phase. And, of course, we discussed BSE broadly and the path forward following the March 7 implementation of the Minimal Risk Rule to return to normal beef and cattle trade, while fully protecting our consuming public and our livestock herds. We agreed that cooperation between the United States and Canada to harmonize border and risk mitigation measures related to BSE will provide a model for the world on how to safely trade in animal and animal products while at the same time protecting both public and animal health. "We discussed Secretary Johanns' decision to delay the effective date for allowing import of meat from animals 30 months of age and older. We discussed moving forward in an expeditious manner in the consideration and development of a plan to allow imports of animals 30 months of age and older for slaughter and meat from those animals as the next step in resuming full trade with Canada. We agreed that decisions will be made on the latest scientific information to assure that the protection of public and animal health remains the highest priority for both of our countries. "We also discussed other issues affecting trade between our two countries and we both agree that a strong working relationship between us is critical to our farmers and ranchers and the economic health of our food industries. We see this first meeting as an important beginning, and we look forward to close cooperation in the future to further strengthen this beginning." # USDA News oc.news@xxxxxxxx 202 720-4623 ---------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to oc.news@xxxxxxxx and reference your email address.
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