This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Changes to BSE controls
03/11/2005
The introduction of BSE testing of Over Thirty Months (OTM) cattle will commence on November 7, 2005.
This is the first time that cattle aged over thirty months will be allowed into the food chain since 1996.
Rural Development Minister Ross Finnie said:
"I am pleased to announce that three of Scotland's leading meat companies: Highland Meats in Saltcoats, AK Stoddart Ltd in Ayr and Scottish Borders in Galashiels have successfully completed the rigorous trials of their testing systems.
"Orkney Meats in Kirkwall is in the final stages of the approval process and should also be in a position to process OTM cattle from next week.
"I cannot emphasise enough the importance I attach to producers and their agents taking time to ensure that OTM cattle are consigned to a meat plant that is approved for processing animals in that age group.
"OTM cattle that arrive at a plant not approved for testing purposes will be treated as fallen stock and thus rendered valueless.
"While the lifting of OTM rules is a welcome step forward we continue to press for the removal of the Date Based Export Scheme restrictions on exports as soon as possible."
In July 2004, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) advised Ministers that a move to replace the OTM rule by BSE testing would be justified on the basis of the food-borne risk to consumers and proportionality in relation to the cost of maintaining the current rule.
The FSA further advised that, given the importance of the effective implementation of BSE testing, Ministers should not change the OTM rule until an independent group had advised that all the necessary arrangements for testing have been put in place. Much uncertainty still surrounds the science of BSE and vCJD. However, the FSA risk assessment was based on pessimistic assumptions and has been subject to rigorous independent peer review. It was endorsed by the Government's scientific advisors on BSE (the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee).
In December 2004, the UK Government announced the start of a managed transition towards the lifting of the OTM rule and its replacement with a system of robust testing of cattle for BSE. The Government also announced that the final switch-over would not happen until the FSA had advised that the testing system was robust.
In August 2005, the FSA Board advised Ministers that an effective system to test cattle aged OTM for BSE before they enter the food chain had been successfully designed and trialled. The Board took into account (a) the report from their independent group to advise on the proposed testing regime; (b) feedback from the European Union's Food and Veterinary Office inspection in June of the UK's BSE controls; and (c) the outcome of public consultations.
The Board also identified a number of prerequisites which would need to be met prior to OTM rule change. These addressed the need to ensure sufficient abattoir capacity and appropriate supervision by the Meat Hygiene Service as BSE testing commenced; the issuing of new guidance about the rules on emergency slaughter of animals; and the strengthening of legislation to prevent over age animals entering the food chain. These have all been taken forward. In September 2005, the Government accepted the FSA advice that the proposed BSE testing system for older cattle should replace the OTM rule.
Brain samples will be taken from cattle after slaughter and sent by abattoirs to an LGC laboratory in Great Britain (at Runcorn, Teddington or Edinburgh) or to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs laboratory in Northern Ireland. Results can be available early on the day after slaughter. All those cattle that will become eligible for human consumption following rule change are already being tested after slaughter under the OTM Scheme. In line with the risk assessment, when the OTM rule is replaced for domestic production, it will also cease to apply to imported beef from cattle of all ages.
For cattle born before August 1, 1996, the UK Government is discussing with the Commission a voluntary compensation scheme (the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme (OCDS)) which is expected to run for three years and will succeed the current Over Thirty Months Scheme (OTMS). Until then the OTMS will remain in place. Only cattle born before August 1996 will be eligible for the OCDS which is not expected to come into force until mid January at the earliest.
BSE was first identified in the UK in 1986. More than 183,000 cases have been confirmed in the UK to date, of which more than 95 per cent were detected before 2000. The epidemic peaked at an annual total of more than 37,000 clinical cases in 1992 and the number of new clinical cases is currently at the lowest level since recording began. There were 90 clinical and 253 cases detected through testing in 2004, the vast majority in cattle born before August 1996. The UK's reinforced feed controls which banned mammalian meat and bone meal from feed for all farmed livestock, effective from August 1, 1996, have led to a particularly sharp fall in BSE cases in cattle born after July 1996.