CCFT Demands Removal of CFIA head
The Canadian Cattlemen for Fair Trade (CCFT) is calling for the immediate removal of R.B. (Dick) Fadden as President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) over the agency's handling of the most recent cases of BSE in
In particular, CCFT is concerned with recent statements by CFIA staff which the CCFT deems to have been made without proper thoroughness or consideration of the way the statements might be interpreted. For example, CFIA officials have recently been quoted as saying that in one instance 66 of 110 ruminant feed samples were contaminated with protein from non-plant sources. Further investigations showed, however, that only four feed samples out of 110 were considered suspect for having foreign protein in them. This protein may have been derived from grasshoppers, mouse hair or bird feathers which are not agents that may potentially cause BSE.
"Under Mr. Fadden's management, the CFIA has lost the confidence of CCFT members and, we believe, others in the industry for the agency's failure to communicate effectively," said CCFT founding member Rick Paskal.
Further, on January 12, a CFIA veterinarian was quoted in national news coverage that "millions of tonnes of contaminated feed were in the system in 1997”.
"Inaccurate information can cause irreparable damage to our cattle industry and be used by US protectionist groups such as R-CALF in their campaign to keep the border closed to Canadian live cattle," Paskal asserted.
"In these tough times
