In the United States, 29 cows tested negative for mad cow disease after being culled from the same herd where an infected cow was found, the Agriculture Department said Saturday. Tests of another 38 cows are pending.

Both governments agree that enough safeguards are in place to resume trade.

US government officials expect to overturn a lower court ruling that has delayed its plans to reopen the US-Canadian border to live Canadian cattle.

Snow said the four-month-old court injunction preventing the border from reopening was "ill considered" and not based on scientific facts.

$5.6 Billion in Export Losses

"We're pressing hard, the Justice Department is appealing that injunction seeking to get that injunction removed, and I trust that we'll be successful in those efforts," Snow said in Calgary at the end of two days of bilateral trade talks.

The appeal is set to be heard July 13 in Seattle and will be followed "very, very closely" by the Canadian government, Canadian Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said.

Canada's beef industry, which has already suffered more than $5.6 billion in export losses, is deeply concerned about the Seattle appeal and another court hearing in Montana on July 27 where a protectionist ranchers group is trying to have the border permanently sealed against all Canadian beef exports.

29 US Cows Tested Negative

The ban on live Canadian cattle has also been hard on the US packing industry, which used to slaughter thousands of Canadian-raised cows.

In the United States, meanwhile, 29 cows tested negative for mad cow disease after being culled from the same herd where an infected cow was found, the Agriculture Department said Saturday. Tests of another 38 cows are pending, officials said.

The infected cow spent its entire life on the same farm, which the government has not identified. It was sold through a livestock market on Nov. 11 but was dead on arrival four days later at a slaughterhouse, the department says.