October 7, 2005

EU might ease mad cow disease rules

EU member states have given their support for a draft European Commission proposal to raise the age limit at which the vertebral column must be removed from beef. This marked the first step towards easing mad cow disease, or BSE, measures in the EU.

The European Parliament would discuss the proposal before the European Commission could finally adopt it. If approved, the decision would allow beef-on-the-bone, such as the Italian Fiorentina steak or T-bone steak, to be produced again in the EU.

The commission's draft proposal was based on scientific advice from the European Food Safety Authority, and involved raising the threshold at which the vertebral column of slaughtered cattle must be removed from 12 to 24 months.

In addition, strict EU regulations to reduce BSE risk resulted in a significant fall in the number of positive BSE cases detected in Europe over recent years, and the age of those positive cases has steadily increased, the commission said. As such, the commission decided to reconsider possible amendments of some BSE rules within the EU.

The proposed threshold of 24 months may be reconsidered again in the future, if the downward trend in BSE cases continued.