Monday, 04 August 2014 15:29

North American disease control plan backed

Written by Rural News Group

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A DRAFT plan to allow North America to cope with an outbreak of, say, foot-and-mouth disease, without shutting down the continent’s cattle trade has won US backing from the National Milk Producers Federation.

The plan calls for the US and Canada to cooperate in establishing quarantine areas central to disease eradication during an outbreak. Trade could then resume or continue in areas considered free of disease.

The NMPF, representing 32,000 dairy farmers, says Canada is the second-largest export market for US dairy products, and an outbreak of a highly contagious animal disease such as FMD in either country could be catastrophic for the US dairy industry.

“We fully support the draft plan and see it as an effective tool for dealing with an outbreak,” NMPF vice president for sustainability and scientific affairs Jamie Jonker says. “It would facilitate continued trade between disease-free areas, while safeguarding animal health in both countries.”

Jonker says the NMPF would like to see the USDA use this approach as a template for other US dairy export markets including Mexico, China, Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.

– Alan Harman

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