BSE ban to be lifted on older cattle

The ban on human consumption of meat from cattle aged over 30 months is to be lifted, the government has announced.

Following advice from the Food Standards Agency, Defra announced that a proposed new BSE testing system would replace the Over Thirty Months (OTM) rule.

The ban had been imposed after the outbreak of BSE, more commonly known as ‘mad cow disease’.

Under the OTM rule, all older cattle are automatically banned from entering the human food chain. The new system will allow UK cattle born after July 31 1996 to be slaughtered and sold for human consumption, provided it complies with strict standards. These include passing a two-day trial and entering into a legally binding agreement with the Meat Hygiene Service on operational procedures.

Only cattle that test negative for BSE under the new system will be sold for human consumption.

However, older UK cattle born before August 1 1996 will still be excluded from the food chain. A new offence of sending cattle born before August 1996 to abattoirs producing meat for human consumption will also be introduced.

The UK will also need to obtain a specific proposal from the European Commission and the agreement of other member states before it can export beef from older cattle. It is unlikely that this proposal will be made before November and any changes in export restrictions are not expected to come into effect before 2006.

Commenting on the lifting of the ban, Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said: "Protection of public health remains the Government's priority. It is imperative that abattoirs and cutting plants that decide to process beef from older cattle operate tight controls and follow all agreed procedures.

“It is excellent news that we will soon be able to increase our supplies of home-produced beef.

“We will also be working in Brussels to ensure that beef from UK cattle born on or after 1 August 1996 can be exported as soon as possible".

The new system is expected to come into effect on November 7.

BSE was first identified in the UK in 1986 and, to date, more than 183,000 cases have been confirmed in the UK. Almost all (95%) of the cases were detected before 2000.

In 2004, there were 90 clinical cases and 253 cases detected through testing, most of which were found in cattle born before August 1996.

Defra said that reinforced feed controls, which banned mammalian meat and bone meal from feed for all farmed livestock from August 1996, had led to a “particularly sharp” fall in BSE cases in cattle born after July 1996.

(KMcA/SP)