Oh, Canada!

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Canada confirmed its third case of mad cow disease, just two weeks after its last case and after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plans to normalize cattle and beef trade with Canada. Now, the USDA "is looking to withdraw a plan to allow imports of young live cattle from Canada," reports Reuters. Last week, the Senate Agriculture Committee unanimously approved USDA Secretary nominee Mike Johanns. "Committee members spent little time discussing Johanns' qualifications ... and instead spent the majority of the hearing airing renewed concerns about the impact of mad cow disease on the U.S. beef industry," writes J.R. Pegg. But Burson-Marsteller and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association are finalists for PR Week's 2005 awards, for "Protecting Consumer Confidence in U.S. Beef: An issues management success."