Canada Imported Potentially Contaminated Animal Feed, British Figures Indicate
Canadian PressSunday, February 11, 2001
DENNIS BUECKERT
OTTAWA (CP) - Canada imported 125,000 kilograms of British meat and bone meal in the 1990s after it had been identified as a likely cause of mad cow disease, British figures indicate.
The figures from U.K. Customs and Excise contradict claims by Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief, who has categorically denied that Canada ever imported bone meal from countries of the European Union.
"Never," said Vanclief outside the Commons on Friday. "Canada has not imported meat and bone meal from the European Union."
The Sunday Times reported last week that Prosper de Mulder, Britain's largest rendering company, exported potentially contaminated material to as many as 70 countries, including Canada.
U.K. government figures indicate that Canada received 30,000 kilograms of meat and bone meal in 1993; 22,000 in 1994; 31,000 in 1995; and 42,000 in 1996.
In a worldwide alert last week, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported that meat and bone meal from Europe was imported by more than 100 countries from 1986 up to today.
All those countries are at risk, said the report.
"All countries which have imported cattle or meat and bone meal that originated from Western Europe, during and since the 1980s, can therefore be considered at risk from the disease."