Canada's cattle industry, including many local producers, are waiting with bated breath for March 7 and the promised reopening of the U.S. border to live cattle, after a closure for nearly two years due to a single cow with BSE found in Alberta in 2003.

The case has long since been investigated and all related cattle found, tested and destroyed. The science shows we have the disease, known officially as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease, is well in hand.

The science of the food safety branch in Canada has proven our food supply is among the safest in the world, yet it has taken all this time before the U.S. finally announced the reopening date for March 7. Very shortly after that announcement came word of not one but two more cows with BSE.

This could be termed as the epitome of bad timing - but the science still supports the border reopening. According to international guidelines which determine if a country is considered a "minimal risk" nation for BSE, Canada could have as many as 11 BSE cases and still fall within that guideline.

An American team of experts is travelling here to determine the safety of the feed industry, to make sure they are adhering to the ban on feeding ruminant parts to other ruminants, especially cattle.

One silver lining from this whole episode is that Canada is starting to slowly redevelop its beef processing facilities so we are more self-sufficient, open borders or not.

What is desperately needed on the part of the U.S. is common sense; some ranchers and politicians are calling for a delay in the reopening, but that would be a travesty of justice and would hurt Canada's trade relations with our biggest partner. The borders need to reopen so we can achieve some level of normal trade relations once more. - G.N.