Comment from Gisela Swift

APHIS-2009-0034-0001 How insane is all of this? It's beyond words. As usual the USDA is promoting disease while trying to enforce traceability for foreign diseases of concern. Not only have they promoted BSE from Canada by allowing cattle over 30 months of age into the USA, they have also promoted EVA , CEM, and Piroplasmosis in Equines due to faulty testing and while lowering standards. All foreign diseases! Look at what happened in Australia when race horses from Japan were allowed in Australia, it caused a huge lock down on all horse movement due to equine influenza and guess who had to pay for it, all Equine owners. The racing industry is money. It all comes down to 'No Barriers to Trade". Same thing is happening with all the lovely products coming in from China to the likes of lead and melamine in our food supply. Its lowering of standards and No Barriers to Trade. Cattle will not be the only livestock to be affected by this ruling. All one has to do is look at the foreign diseases all ready here due to negligence and the lowering of standards called minimal risk as the USDA likes to call it. I do not consider any USA livestock minimal! Dr. Thornsberry said this and livestock owners need to take what he said seriously and if you don’t agree then you have not done your research. Over the past several years USDA has defied and ignored its congressional responsibility to prevent the introduction of animal diseases. Instead, USDA appears to be marching to the orders of a higher authority – the WTO – that is repulsed by the United States’ exemplary record of disease prevention and wants to lower the United States down to a standard consistent with the rest of the world. This should be the new definition of insanity. I therefore oppose this ruling.