The U.S. government said on Monday that it will not change its policy of importing beef from Canada after a new case of mad cow disease was detected in the country.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said in a statement that he had spoken to his Canadian counterpart, Andy Mitchell, following the confirmation late Sunday of Canada's fourth recorded case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.

"I assured him that based on the information he supplied, I anticipate no change in the status of beef or live cattle imports to the U.S. from Canada under our established agreement," Johanns said.

"As I've said many times, our beef trade decisions follow internationally accepted guidelines that are based in science," he said.

The United States has had two confirmed cases of BSE. The first was discovered late in 2003 in a cow that had been imported from Alberta, Canada, in the same region where the latest case was discovered.

The United States reopened its border with Canada to young cattle in last July after imposing a ban in late 2003.

Source: Xinhua