FAO says better controls and surveillance needed to protect consumers from BSE.

Food & Drink Weekly, Jan 19, 2004

Controls against mad cow disease are too lax in many countries and there is a "considerable risk" of a spread of the disease, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). After the discovery last month of the first case of BSE in the United States, FAO urged all countries to keep risky animals and materials out of the food chain. "To reassure consumers ... will require better controls and more surveillance and testing," the Rome-based agency said. "In many countries BSE controls are still not sufficient and many countries are not applying the recommended measures properly," said FAO in a statement. "There is also a considerable risk of further introducing infectious materials, given the global trade in animal feed and animal products."

FAO is urging governments to minimize risks by applying precautionary measures that include a ban on feeding meat and bone meal to farm animals as well as stricter surveillance and identification of the cattle population. "If the control measures ... are in place and implemented effectively, the risks of infective material in the food chain are very low, even in countries where the disease is present," FAO said. Additional BSE tests would help boost consumer confidence and should be carried out on all animals that have died or are killed other than by routine slaughter, FAO said.

Here in the United States, USDA says it probably will license the first rapid BSE test in a matter of weeks and that it soon would begin accepting applications from companies that manufacture speedy BSE test kits. Test kits will be checked at USDA's Center for Veterinary Biologics to ensure that they are effective before the department issues any licenses for the product.

In addition, USDA indicated that it will shift some of the testing that traditionally was done at slaughter plants to rendering plants, and perhaps to other locations. For example, officials say, future testing could take place at plants that might currently be processing carcasses for uses other than for human consumption.

In a related action, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman will meet the agriculture ministers of Mexico and Canada this week for talks expected to include BSE regulations. Under Secretary Bill Hawks told reporters the planned meeting would be an opportunity for newly appointed Canadian farm minister Bob Speller to get acquainted with his North American counterparts. Hawks also said the U.S. beef industry had asked that shipments of meat that have been in limbo since Dec. 23 be tested for specified risk material as a way of assuring buyers the meat is free of BSE.

Meanwhile, GAO officials will meet later this month with senators to agree on a framework and timeline for a GAO probe into FDA's enforcement of its animal feed rules. GAO plans to brief Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on a tentative scope and design for the GAO inquiry into how FDA is monitoring and enforcing compliance with the feed rule.