July 8, 2004

U.S. FDA May Take Step Toward New BSE Feed Rules This Week

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration could reveal as early as Friday its next step in the process to strengthen livestock feedban rules to prevent the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, U.S. industry and government officials said Wednesday.

Rex Runyon, a spokesman for the American Feed Industry Association, or AFIA, said the group expects FDA to publish an advance notice laying down a list of its concerns for livestock feed and requesting public feedback rather than to unveil an actual new rule proposal.

FDA will make revelations on BSE efforts "possibly by the end of this week," spokesman Lawrence Bachrok said Wednesday. He would not comment further.

BSE is believed to be spread among cattle through feed if it contains infected ruminant material. FDA oversees the safety of animal feed and has maintained a ban on ruminant material in cattle feed since 1997.

A international review panel suggested earlier this year that some ruminant material should be banned from all livestock feed, and the AFIA said in a statement it expects FDA to include that suggestion in its requested public feedback.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published several proposals in January to strengthen livestock rules such as banning plate waste, chicken litter and mammalian blood and blood products from cattle feed.

But Acting FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford said in May the feedban rules FDA is now working on will be stronger than those it unveiled in January.

FDA is also expected to soon publish new BSE rules dealing with the human food supply products that FDA regulates.