Mad cow ‘minimum risk’ from Canadian beef, U.S. says (Chicago Tribune) Coming to the aid of an American meat industry suffering from lost foreign markets, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed lifting its ban on the import of cheaper cattle from Canada, despite Canada's discovery of eight cases of mad cow disease since 2003, including five in 2006 alone. [News Source]

Japan may scale back inspection of U.S. beef imports (Japan Today) TOKYO — The government indicated Monday it may end the current practice of inspecting all boxes of beef imports from the United States over fears of mad-cow disease. [News Source]

Japan May Ease U.S. Beef Inspections (CBS News) Japan may scale back stringent inspections of U.S. beef imports that were imposed over mad cow fears, a senior health official was quoted as saying. [News Source]

Japan may scale back U.S. beef inspections (Agriculture Online) NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- The government indicated Monday it may end the current practice of inspecting all boxes of beef imports from the U.S. over fears of mad-cow disease, Kyodo reported. [News Source]

Brain disease stalks booming Alberta deer. The denser the deer and moose population, the more likely that chronic wasting disease will spread. And the numbers of deer and mosse are surprisingly high. [News Source]

Japan May Scale Back Inspection Of US Beef Imports (CattleNetwork.com) NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The government indicated Monday it may end the current practice of inspecting all boxes of beef imports from the U.S. over fears of mad-cow disease, Kyodo reported. [News Source]

U.S.-South Korea battle clock, protests over trade deal (Reuters via Yahoo! News) South Korean and U.S. negotiators, facing heated street protests, a history of troubled discussions and a ticking clock, started talks on Monday aimed at striking a bilateral free trade deal. [News Source]

Japan may scale back inspection of U.S. beef imports (Kyodo via Yahoo! Asia News) _ The government indicated Monday it may end the current practice of inspecting all boxes of beef imports from the United States over fears of mad-cow disease. [News Source]

U.S. official optimistic of S.Korea FTA (AP via Yahoo! News) The United States and South Korea can still wrap up a free trade agreement, although tough issues remain and time is running short, Washington's chief negotiator said Monday. [News Source]

Canada reviews testing for U.S. cattle imports (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Canada is considering easing import requirements on U.S. cattle by streamlining tests for one disease in response to complaints from the industry, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said on Friday. [News Source]