CFTC Comments On USDA’s First Inconclusive Test In BSE Testing Program

On Friday afternoon, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its first "inconclusive" BSE test result, after four weeks of the "USDA Enhanced BSE Testing Program" of selected US cattle populations. This is a program to identify the prevalence of any possible BSE in the US cattle herd.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been in close touch with the leadership of USDA during the development of this program, and is in close communication with USDA right now. We are also in close communication with the leadership of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and other relevant exchanges.

The CFTC’s market and financial surveillance teams are hard at work to make sure that US markets remain fair and strong. We do not see any reason the markets should not function normally today.

We will be monitoring the situation closely.