The European Commission has asked EU agriculture ministers to consider applying fresh measures to tackle BSE. It has called on member-states to emphasise testing rather than the destruction scheme for cattle over 30 months old.
In a letter to the 15 ministers, the Food Safety Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, said more action may be needed to ensure any weaknesses in the EU's approach to BSE could be corrected. His proposals include testing of feed to make sure it has not been contaminated with mammalian protein and tracing of past exports of meat-and-bone meal to non-EU countries that may have exposed those countries to BSE.
Mr Byrne wants the scheme for the testing or destruction of cattle over 30 months to be used to obtain more accurate information about BSE incidence. Under the scheme, farmers receive compensation for the full market value of the animal, whether it is tested and found to have BSE or is simply destroyed without being tested.
In an interview yesterday with The Irish Times, Mr Byrne said the idea behind the scheme was to reassure consumers that meat from cattle under 30 months and older cattle that had tested negative for BSE was safe. "There should be an emphasis on testing the animal in order to put it into the food chain rather than destroying the animal. I know it's test or destroy but I would rather see the test. I don't like the idea of animals being destroyed in circumstances where the high probability is that the animal is perfectly fit for consumption." Pointing out that the cost of compensating the farmer was shared by the EU and member-states, Mr Byrne said consumers had a right to question what their taxes were paying for.
"If a member-state takes the view that it won't emphasise testing for the purpose of entering the food chain but rather take the easy option and destroy the animal, the consumer can legitimately ask the question: my taxes are going to that farmer to destroy that animal and I as a consumer or consumers in general are getting no benefit from it because it's not entering the food chain."
Among the measures introduced to combat BSE last year was a six-month ban on feeding meat-and-bone meal to all livestock, including pigs, poultry and fish. Some EU member-states are calling for the ban to be made permanent, to avoid the risk that such feed could be illegally given to cattle. Mr Byrne insists, however, that no such decision has yet been taken and he is looking into whether meal using the meat of cattle under 30 months might be safe.
"Mammalian meat-and-bone meal will not be served to cattle, that's never going to happen. But it's not inevitable the six-month ban will continue beyond six months. The decisions will be based on scientific analysis. They will not be based on any considerations of politics or the interests of the industry."
The Commissioner claims that, if the Commission, European governments and the food industry do their job properly, they can eliminate BSE from Europe's cattle.
"If there is a successful elimination of BSE from the market place, consumer confidence will return and with it the consumption of beef. In the Irish context that's important because Ireland exports 90 per cent of the beef we produce. So it's got to be good beef. There is a vested interest in farmers making sure their animals are free of BSE and also that it's high-quality beef, so the people of the EU and elsewhere will say `that's Irish beef, it's prime quality', " he said.
