Big $$$ or Big Government....which is it?

Creekstone Fights For Right To Test For BSE
Posted on May 10, 2008 by Mad Cow
http://www.madcowblog.com/2008/05/articles/mad-cow-updates/creekstone-fights-for-right-to-test-for-bse/
Creekstone Farms Premium Beef is finding out how difficult life can be when your opponent in court is the U.S. government. One thing is certain, the government is not worried about running up legal bills.
Here's what we are talking about. Your government wants to stop Creekstone from using its own money to test each and every one of its Black Angus beef cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease.
Last March, Creekstone beat the government at the trial court level. U.S. Judge James Robertson of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. said the United States Department of Agriculture's prohibition of private tests was "unlawful."
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in the case. USDA, which currently tests only one percent of slaughtered cows for BSE, brought the appeal.
With near riots in 30 locations in South Korea over the re-entry of U.S. beef cattle to the Asian country, Creekstone's plan to test for BSE are looking more than savvy. Its testing facility, a state-of-the-art laboratory, is ready to go at its Arkansas City, Kansas plant. All that stands in the way of its ability to respond to customer demand in Korea, Japan and other countries concerned about Mad Cow Disease is Uncle Sam.
USDA says more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers. They said Creekstone wants to "create false assurances."
Creekstone said USDA's regulations covering the treatment of domestic animals contain no prohibition against an individual company testing for mad cow disease, since the test is conducted only after a cow is slaughtered. The company insists USDA no authority to prevent the private sector from using the test to reassure customers. Creekstone says USDA wants to keep information from consumers.
Appeals courts generally issue their rulings some weeks after hearing the case.

USDA Blocks Major Natural Beef Company, Creekstone, from Testing for Mad Cow Disease
Mad cow testing dispute features some crazy bureaucratic logic Modesto Bee -

Modesto, CA, May 8, 2006 Straight to the Source
A ranching and meat-processing company in Kansas wants to test all its cattle for mad cow disease at its own expense. The Bush administration won't let the firm do it. Oh, but that's not all. If the company tries to buy the $20 testing kits, the feds will treat such a transaction as an illegal purchase of a controlled substance.
We wish we were making this up, but we're not. Talk about mad cow, this is crazy people. It's also an intrusive government abusing an old law.
In 1913, when cholera was decimating hog herds, scam artists were selling fake serums to farmers. Congress responded with the Viruses, Serums, Toxins, Anti-Toxins and Analogous Products Act. It gave the federal government authority to regulate diagnostic testing devices for farm animals.
The Bush administration rediscovered this law when the Kansas company, Creekstone Farms, announced plans to test its entire herd for mad cow disease. The company was willing to go far and beyond the government's test regimen to reassure its customers in places such as Japan.
Private companies make these test kits and there is nothing dangerous about them. Still, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says ranchers such as Creekstone Farms can't buy them.
Creekstone Farms is a victim of a much larger debate over the nation's limited testing of its beef supply. The USDA tests about 1 percent of the nation's beef cattle for mad cow disease. That sampling, the government and large meatpacking companies say, is plenty. Many other nations, especially those that import our beef, test a far greater percentage of their herds. Japan requires 100percent testing.
Creekstone Farms once sold its high-end Angus beef (no growth hormones, no antibiotics) to Japan. Now it can't because of this mad cow disease testing dispute between Japan and the Bush administration. Nor can Creekstone Farms voluntarily test 100 percent of its cattle, because the USDA has cut off the supply of thetest kits.
In business, the customer is always right. The Bush administration is wrong to deny Creekstone's customers - whether in Topeka or in Tokyo - access to tested beef. So, Creekstone is suing the USDA.
The administration likes to tout "free market" solutions to big problems. Creekstone came up with a good one. It's crazy not to let the firm pursue it.