World Body Says U.S. Risk for BSE Is Low

By Kathryn McConnell | Staff Writer | 25 February 2013

A healthy beef cow chews fresh grass in a pasture in Romulus, New York. (Photo: AP Images)

By Kathryn McConnell
Staff Writer

Washington — The scientific body that governs international standards for animal health has recommended that the United States be considered a negligible-risk country for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced February 20.

The Scientific Commission for the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) recommendation that the U.S. risk status be upgraded from “controlled” to “negligible” confirms that U.S. beef ranchers, processors, and federal and state governments maintain interlocking standards to protect human and animal health against BSE, Vilsack said. BSE is also known as mad cow disease.

Negligible is the lowest risk category for BSE and is expected to help increase U.S. exports of beef, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The OIE uses the latest science and current knowledge about BSE. The organization determines a country’s risk status after a comprehensive review of actions that a country has taken to manage risk of a disease. Those actions include a ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban, controlling imports of animals and animal products from countries at risk for the disease, and conducting surveillance, USDA said.

The U.S. “surveillance for and safeguards against BSE are strong,” Vilsack said.

The OIE’s recommendation is the latest positive influence on U.S. beef exports. In January, Japan lifted its ban on beef from cows younger than 30 months, which it had imposed in December 2003 after a BSE-positive animal was detected in the United States. Mexico has relaxed some of its restrictions on U.S. beef, Vilsack said at USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum February 21.

He added that the United States “continues to press for normalization of beef trade with several nations in a manner that is based on science and consistent with international standards.”

“U.S. beef and beef products are of the highest quality, wholesome and produced to the highest standards in the world,” he said.

The OIE has 178 members, including the United States, and is linked to the World Trade Organization.

Original: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2013/02/20130225143013.html