July 17, 2007

 

OIE reminds US beef industry risk status hinges on feed ban

 

 

THE US may need to make its feed rules stricter to keep its "controlled risk" for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) report suggested.

 

The OIE designated both the US and Canada as controlled-risk countries for BSE in May. However, the same OIE report also recommended tightening of feed rules in the US.

 

Dow Jones Newswires reported that the OIE Scientific Commission, which recommended the status, also recommended that the US "carefully consider excluding specified risk material from use in animal feed."

 

The designation was crucial to the US beef trade as it recently caused Japan and South Korea to relax rules against the importing of US beef. South Korea is said to be ready to lift all restrictions on US beef by September.

 

Japanese officials have warned that they still consider US cattle at risk of BSE because of failure to tighten US feed controls, Dow Jones reported.

 

Currently there is no ban on specified risk materials (SRMs) from cows such as brain and nerve tissue to be fed to animals like poultry and pigs, although there is a ban on feeding such materials to cow. 

 

Expanding the US rule to ban specified risk materials (SRMs) from all animal feed has been controversial as it would be a substantial expansion of the existing US feed rule.

 

The Food & Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine has indicated there is currently no time frame on when a final rule will be published but is working on doing it "as expeditiously as possible".

 

The potential for cross contamination, as long as such feeds are allowed may affect the controlled-risk status of US beef, the report suggested.

 

Meanwhile, Canada implemented new regulations to tighten its feed ban on July 12.