EU outlines plans to relax BSE restrictions

The big prize would be the re-opening up of the UK market. Under 1996 rules British beef cannot be exported to the rest of Europe from any animal more than 30 months old. The embargo, in effectsince 1996, also prohibits the UK from exporting beef on the bone. Before the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis in 1986, the UK's beef exports were worth about £1bn (€1.5bn) compared to £20m (€29m) last year, according to Food from Britain, aconsultancy. Citing the steep decrease in the incidence of BSE within the UK and throughout the rest of the EU, the Commission proposes lifting the additional restrictions the bloc put on imports of live cattleand beef products from the UK. Meat must be deboned and cattle aged over 30 months are excluded from export to the rest of the EU and overseas. The Commission also proposes to amend regulations on meat parts considered as "specified risk materials" (SRM), on feeds, on culling and on current monitoring programmes. The proposalsare set out in a recently published consulation document. "We have come to the stage that amendments of certain measures could be envisaged without endangering the health of the consumer or the policy of eradicating BSE, provided that the positivetrend continues and scientific conditions are in place," the Commission stated. The Commission also proposes to raise the age limit for removing the vertebral column from cattle to 24 months from the current 12 months. The recommendation was made earlier this year by the EU'sfood safety regulator. The proposed amendment would allow certain cuts of meat currently banned from the market, such as T-bone steak, to be sold in the EU. The restrictions on the use of SRM include a prohibition to use such products for the production of derived products for use in food and feed such as tallow, gelatine, collagen and dicalciumphosphate. Such restrictions might also be relaxed. Other possible amendments include: relaxing the total ban on processed animal protein in feed, which was introduced in 1994 and extended in 2001; a move to more targeted testing of animals for BSE or transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), the general name for the disease in all animals, including sheep and goats; finding alternatives to the current requirement that a whole beef herd must be slaughtered when one case of BSE is detected; and using country specific measures if some members fall behind in eradicating the disease. The number of BSE cases in the EU dropped to 850 positive tests for the brain-wasting disease in 2004 from 2,129 in 2002, when the bloc had 15 members compared to the current 25, the EuropeanCommission said. As detailed in a previous story by FoodProductionDaily, the number of BSE cases found this year in European countries is falling dramatically, except for Spain. The BSE epidemic was first recognised in the UK in 1986. At its peak in 1992, a total of 37,280 cases were discovered in UK cattle. So far this year the UK remains at the top of the BSE list, with66 cases confirmed, indicating that the total for the year could fall by about 60 per cent. Spain has reported 52 cases so far this year, Ireland 37 cases and Portugal 13 cases. Germany and Francehave so far not reported any incidents of BSE. Poland reported 11 cases of BSE last year and has so far discovered another 11 cases this year. According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, Ireland found 126 cases of BSE in its cattle last year, compared with137 found in Spain. The UK had the highest incidence of BSE cases in the world last year with 343 cases confirmed, followed by Spain, Ireland. Portugal is fourth in the BSE league, reporting 92 casesin 2004, followed by Germany with 65 cases. France reported 54 cases of BSE last year.