September 16, 2005

UK eases mad cow rule

The UK government said it had approved a proposal to ease the country's mad cow disease rules, allowing some older cattle to enter the food chain. The former Over Thirty Months (OTM) rule would also be replaced by a new system of testing under new legislation by early November this year, the government added.

However, cattle born before August 1, 1996, would continue to be excluded from the food chain. Other existing BSE controls would also remain in place.

Meanwhile, changes in export restrictions were not expected to come into force before early next year, as the move must first be proposed by the European Commission and agreed by EU member states.

This announcement would provide a major boost to the country's beef industry, which was hit badly in 1995 following an outbreak of mad cow disease among domestic cattle.

According to the UK Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC), an additional 185,000 tonnes of British beef were expected back on the market. This represented a 27 percent rise in domestic production.

The MLC said the UK was about 60 percent self sufficient in beef, and forecast production to rise to 875,000 tonnes in 2006. This was up from a projected 743,000 tonnes for this year but still well below the 974,000 tonnes seen in 1995.