S. Korea, U.S. to Discuss Beef Issue

South Korean and U.S. officials last week agreed to discuss quarantine issues and bone-in beef in a meeting later this month. Although there hasn’t been an official date set for the meeting, the two countries plan to meet following a World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) meeting scheduled for May 20-25, USAgNet reports.

The OIE is expected to give the United States a “controlled risk” classification regarding bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). According to USAgNet, the new designation should allow the U.S. to export beef without limitation.

Bush Pushes Fuel, Energy Reform

President Bush announced plans Monday to further regulate gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, according to a statement released by the White House.

To further his “Twenty in Ten” goal of decreasing gasoline consumption by 20% in 10 years, Bush directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy, Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take the first steps toward the regulation of gas consumption and emissions from motor vehicles.

According to the release, the Administration has also sent Congress legislative proposals that propose setting a mandatory fuels standard requiring the equivalent of 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017. The proposals also call for reform of average fuel economy standards.

In response to a recent Supreme Court ruling demanding the EPA reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Bush has stepped up efforts within Cabinet agencies and has signed an executive order requiring coordination among such federal agencies.

Byproducts Company Recalls Rice Protein Concentrate

A cereal byproducts company based in Mount Prospect, Ill., announced Monday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined there are melamine and/or melamine-type derivatives in a rice protein concentrate produced by Chinese supplier Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co. Ltd.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), Cereal Byproducts Co. announced it had purchased the byproducts through a local domestic importer. Cereal Byproducts shipped the recalled product to a total of three customers located in the Midwest between July 19, 2006, and March 14, 2007.

AVMA reports the FDA previously found melamine and/or melamine derivatives in Wilbur-Ellis Co.’s rice protein concentrate, which was purchased from the same Chinese supplier as Cereal Byproducts.

For more information see the FDA press release at www.fda.gov.

— compiled by Crystal Albers, associate editor, Angus Productions Inc.