April 24, 2008

US finalizes cattle feed rule after South Korean trade deal

The US Food and Drug Administration published on Wednesday its final feed rule which expands the list of prohibited cattle materials associated with mad cow disease.

The final rule came less than a week after the US and South Korea agreed on a beef trade protocol that initially allows bone-in and boneless beef from less than 30 months of age cattle.

The Korean government also gave nod to bone-in and boneless beef from cattle older than 30 months of age upon publication of the enhanced feed ban rule.

The final rule bans cattle parts including the brains and spinal cords from cattle 30 months of age and older, the entire carcass of cattle not inspected and passed for human consumption that are 30 months of age or older.

The US feed rule also prohibits the use of certain mammalian-origin proteins in ruminant feed but permits the use of such materials in feed for non-ruminant animals.

The FDA said that while the prevalence of BSE in the US is very much lower than in EU countries with mad cow cases, evidence demonstrates that measures on only ruminant feed were not sufficient to eliminate all transmission of mad cow.