May 13, 2004

BSE Risk Status Of UK Beef To Be Relaxed By EFSA
 
The European Food Safety Authority, or EFSA, will lower its bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease risk status of U.K. beef to moderate from high later in 2004, the U.K. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement Wednesday.
 
The "moderate" risk rating is the same as most of European Union member states, Defra said Wednesday. The risk ratings below moderate are minimal risk, provisionally free and free.
 
"The government and industry have worked hard to control and eradicate BSE and EFSA's view recognizes this and is good news for British beef," said Food and Farming minister Larry Whitty.
 
"We will keep on working closely with the European Commission and other member states to ensure that controls on U.K. beef exports are eased as soon as possible," Whitty added.
 
The U.K. needs a specific proposal from the European commission and the agreement of other member states before it can export beef from cattle born after August 1, 1996 on the same basis as the rest of the E.U., Defra said.
 
EFSA said the rule that beef for export must be from cattle more than six months old whose mothers were alive six months after they were born might then be lifted.
 
EFSA agreed that the U.K. would fall below the 200 cases per million cattle threshold, set by the world animal health organisation OIE, no later than December 2004 and was clearly moderate risk status for cattle born after July 31, 1996, Defra said.
 
Cattle born before that date are excluded from the food chain as tracing technology before that date is difficult.