Embassy Row

Mad cow mission

Canadian Agriculture Minister Bob Speller is due in Washington this week to discuss measures to combat the outbreak of mad cow disease that has devastated Canadian and U.S. beef exports.

Mr. Speller was in South Korea yesterday to meet with Agriculture and Forestry Minister Huh Sang-man to persuade him to ease South Korean restrictions on Canadian beef. South Korea, a major importer of Canadian beef, imposed an import ban in May, after an outbreak was discovered in Canada.

He also met with Yoshiyuki Kamei, Japan’s minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, to discuss Japan’s ban on Canadian beef.

In Washington, Mr. Speller will meet with Mexican Agriculture Secretary Javier Usabiaga on Thursday and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman on Friday.

Mr. Speller will discuss measures that Canada has taken since the outbreak of the disease in the United States was traced to a cow born in the Canadian province of Alberta. The disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), was discovered last month in a cow in Washington state.

Before leaving Ottawa last week, Mr. Speller announced measures for combating the disease.

“These measures will build on what is already one of the strongest food-safety systems in the world,” he said. “They demonstrate the commitment of this government to address the issue of BSE and support our Canadian industry.”

Canada announced a five-year, $72 million program aimed at testing up to 30,000 animals a year and identifying those that are free of the disease. The measures also will increase the Canadian Health Ministry’s efforts to respond to outbreaks.

The U.S. Agriculture Department yesterday predicted that the ban on U.S. beef will lower the price of beef this year to a range of $72 to $78 per hundred pounds. Last month, before the outbreak of mad cow disease, the price was estimated at $84 to $91 per hundred pounds.

Mideast warning

A top U.S. diplomat yesterday warned Israelis and Palestinians that they are threatening the Bush administration’s “road map” for Middle East peace.

David Satterfield, deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, criticized Israel for building settlements and a security fence and Palestinians for continued terrorism against Israeli civilians.

Israel has defended its 90-mile barrier of fences and some concrete sections along the West Bank as the only way to keep out suicide bombers.

Mr. Satterfield told a State Department forum on the 1967 Arab-Israeli war that Israeli settlements increase the difficulty of creating a Palestinian state.

“As Israeli settlements expand, it becomes ever more difficult to see how two peoples can be separated into two states. Settlement activity must stop,” he said.

“The course of the separation barrier under construction now remains a significant problem as well, and, like the settlement activity itself, takes everyone further from the comfort and trust necessary to achieve the president’s vision of two states,” Mr. Satterfield said.

He also called on the Palestinians to end their three-year cycle of violence.

“It is essential that Palestinians understand violence and terror will never be a vehicle for achievement of their aspirations,” Mr. Satterfield said.

Concerning the Six-Day War of 1967, Mr. Satterfield said the conflict defined today’s Middle East.

“Although the Six-Day War took place over 35 years ago, its consequences certainly continue to reverberate today,” he said. “The war defined the shape, literally, of the continuing Middle East conflict and physically changed the face of the region.”

Israel defeated a combined Arab army and gained control of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. The Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt after a peace settlement.

• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail jmorrison@washingtontimes.com.