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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that Egypt is resuming "immediately" imports of US-produced beef, which it had stopped after a sole case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in the US in late 2003 in a cow imported from Canada. The meat Egypt will import will be from cattle younger than 30 months, considered of minimal risk for carrying BSE - also known as mad cow disease. Egypt was a $30 million market for US beef in 2003, according to the USDA, which said that the largest market that remains closed to US beef exports is Japan…

At the same time, California cattle ranchers are reportedly deeply divided over whether the US should lift a ban on Canadian beef imports put in place nearly two years ago after mad cow disease was discovered in Canada. The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has been asked to intervene in the trade dispute after a federal judge decided earlier this month to block a government plan to allow expanded beef imports from Canada. Some California ranchers are worried that reopening the US northern border would result in a flood of Canadian beef imports that would lower cattle prices at a time when the lucrative Japanese market is closed to American cattle producers. Lifting the ban also could jeopardize efforts to persuade Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries to buy US beef if they believe Canadian cattle isn't safe, they say. Other ranchers say reopening the border would help American meatpackers that are suffering without Canadian cattle. It also could help persuade Japan and other countries to reopen their markets by demonstrating that mad cow disease can be controlled and eradicated. California is the country's seventh largest beef producer and the nation's No. 1 dairy state, according to the California Farm Bureau Federation. The California beef industry, which mostly raises calves shipped out of state for feeding and slaughter, generates about $1.6 billion of the $45 billion in sales nationwide. The state's top beef-producing counties include Fresno, Imperial, King, Merced and Tulare. More than 90% of California's $215 million in foreign beef exports are sold to Asian countries. Japan, at 40%, and Korea, 33%, are the state's two largest beef export markets…

San Diego-headquartered Vical Incorporated has announced the issuance of two Canadian patents on the company's core technology, which involves direct administration of certain genetic material such as DNA or RNA. The Canadian patents cover such administration both with and without cationic lipids, the company said. Covered uses of the technology include vaccines, therapeutics, and research and development applications. Vical holds several issued US and foreign patents concerning this core technology and related enhancements, applications, and manufacturing processes, while a number of vaccine and therapeutic applications of the technology are currently under development by Vical and its collaborative partners, including Merck & Co., Inc., Sanofi-Aventis Group, Merial Ltd. (a joint venture between Merck and Sanofi-Aventis), Corautus Genetics Inc., Aqua Health Ltd. (an affiliate of Novartis Animal Health Inc.), and the US National Institutes of Health; and…

A 17-nation coalition that accounts for more than 23% of the world's agricultural exports has concluded its 27th ministerial meeting in Cartagena, Colombia. The coalition, known as The Cairns Group, met to discuss such major trade issues as the proposed US Free Trade Agreement with Central America and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR) and the importance of agreeing on methods for liberalizing trade in time for a December 2005 ministerial meeting in Hong Kong of the World Trade Organization.  That international body deals with the rules of trade between nations. The coalition, created in 1986, has launched a global campaign for free trade in agriculture in an effort to ensure that the current round of world trade talks delivers cuts in agricultural subsidies and increases in market access. The Cairns Group held its previous ministerial meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, in February 2004.  Members of the group say that, by acting collectively, they have had more influence on agriculture negotiations than any individual nation could achieve independently. Cairns Group ministers say global trade liberalization must continue to support the economic needs of nations in the developing world.

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