August 17, 2005

UK may loosen mad cow disease controls

The UK is considering ending the 'over-30-months' rule on mad cow disease, one of the last existing control measures.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) believes it is now safe for older cows to enter the food chain if the animals tested negative for BSE, and recommended on August 15 for lifting of the rule.

Should it happen, some 550,000-600,000 animals are expected to enter the UK market and give UK beef exporters a major boost with the resumption of full beef exports.

Beef production will also rise by about 180,000 tonnes annually, according to the country's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

However, FSA pointed out that other key BSE measures should remain, such as the ban on bone-meal feed.

DEFRA would be the agency studying recommendations made by FSA.

In December 2004, the UK government noted that there were only a few animals testing positive for BSE. It then asked FSA if a sufficiently robust testing system was in place to justify relaxing the once-stringent measures.