May 2, 2012

Thailand will not be restricting boneless beef from cattle 30 months and younger, in contrary to previous reports.

A USDA spokesman confirmed that news from Thailand indicated no change in the country's US beef import policies. US Meat Export Federation spokesman, Joe Schuele, also confirmed that USMEF officials received the same indications from Thailand's Department of Livestock Development Tuesday.

"We can confirm that Thailand had not closed the market to US boneless beef from cattle 30 months or under," a USDA spokesman revealed.

Officials in Thailand and other US beef importing nations had been evaluating the news last week that a 10-year-old dairy cow in California was confirmed as infected with an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The cow was never in the food supply, and the discovery does not change the United States' BSE status as determined by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

Major importers such as Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Canada have all confirmed they will continue to import US beef. So far, only Indonesia has announced it would halt shipments.

"The US remains confident in the safety of US beef and dairy products and USDA will continue to provide relevant information to our public and trading partners as it becomes available. Consequently, this detection should not affect US trade," another USDA spokesman added.