Leaders and followers

As if there was any doubt whether the border closure was based on anything resembling rational evidence, the U.S. announced today that it will implement more stringent feed regulations - which happen to match Canada's:

The government will close a gap in the U.S. defence against the spread of mad-cow disease by changing feed regulations to mirror those in Canada, FDA commissioner Lester M. Crawford said Monday...

Canada has regulations banning at-risk tissues – brains, spinal cords and other parts that can carry mad cow disease – from feed for all animals, including chickens, pigs and pets...

Mr. Crawford did not say whether the new regulations would ban cattle blood and restaurant leftovers, also considered potential pathways for BSE, from cattle feed.

“Our regulations will mimic theirs,” he said.

The choice to match Canada's current regulations was apparently the solution proposed by an international team put together by the U.S. Agriculture Department. Not coincidentally, that's the same department that implemented the ban on Canadian cattle in the first place, and a similar international team helped to draft the Canadian version of the regulations as well.

It's nice to see the U.S. now agreeing on what should be a solid continent-wide standard for feed. But it would be all the better if the U.S. hadn't decided to shut out Canadian beef and cattle while it figured out that our solution would be the most effective.