- This In Focus has been updated by 'In Focus: BSE in Europe'
In a number of European countries in which previously there have been little known incidence of the cattle disease BSE there have been a number of recent cases reported. This has sparked a renewed sense of unease amongst European consumers about the safety of beef and calls for tighter controls on what is fed to cows and stricter checking procedures for discovering cattle with the disease. A number of individual countries in Europe have introduced new measures and on the 29 November 2000 the European Commission put forward several new proposals to be considered by a specially convened Agriculture Council on the 4 December 2000.
Background
There are a mass of information sources giving the background to the BSE (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) crisis. A short factual account can be found in MEMO/00/89 from the European Commission issued on the 29 November 2000. This is in the form of a question and answer paper. The following questions are answered:
- What is the origin of BSE and what is its incidence in the EU?
- What about its human equivalent - vCJD?
- What is the incidence of BSE by Member State? What is the expected future evolution of the disease?
- What has the EU done to protect the public?
- What other measures are proposed to protect the public from BSE?
- What is being done to tackle the risk of BSE cases entering the food chain?
- Why is there a new crisis of confidence in the safety of beef?
- What is the impact of the present crisis?
- Is the Commission surprised at the increase in France and the first cases of BSE in Germany and Spain?
- How does the Commission explain the higher BSE level in some Member States?
- What are the lessons to be learned from the present crisis?
- Is there not a need for a fundamental re-think of the Community approach towards food safety?
- What is the Commission doing to ensure that BSE controls are implemented?
- Impact on the beef markets in the EU and outside
- Measures to stabilise the beef market
- What effects could the French ban on meat and bone meal in animal feed have on imports and production of oilseeds?
- Facts and figures on EU oilseeds and protein crops
- What will be the Commission's response to third countries which have imposed bans on animal products from the EU?
- What is the impact of the French measures on the supply of animal feed?
One of the implications of the current crisis has been to renew the European Commission's call to accelerate progress on its proposals on key areas of food safety, including a proposal to set up a European Food Safety Authority.
On the 29 November 2000 the European Commission put forward a series of new proposals to respond to the current crisis. These proposals were considered by the specially convened Agriculture Council on the 4 December 2000. These proposals included:
- a temporary ban on the feeding of meat and bone meal (MBM) to all farm animals
- a requirement that all animals over 30 months are tested for BSE to enhance consumer confidence
- a requirement that the current list of specified risk materials (SRMs), which must be removed and destroyed, should now also include the entire intestine of bovines of all ages
- a 'purchase for destruction' scheme to remove from the food chain all cattle aged over 30 months unless they have been tested for BSE to ensure additional guarantees and to rebalance the beef market
- a flexible handling of public intervention to address the current drop in producer prices.
- to raise the advances paid for the beef premia from currently 60&percent; to 80&percent;, in order to take the financial pressure from beef producers.
- a proposal to require the testing of all 'at risk' animals from 1 January 2001. This proposal will be extended to all animals aged over 30 months from 1 July 2001.
Source: European Commission: Press Release: IP/00/1372 (29.11.00)
A BBC News feature lists the situation in each affected European country.
Further sources providing background information and commentary from a variety of perspectives are presented below.
Further information within European Sources Online:
European Sources Online: Topic Guide
- The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union,
- The consumer policy of the European Union
European Sources Online: In Focus
- Export of British beef and the use of sludge in animal feed, November 1999, October 1999
- Export of British beef and the use of sludge in animal feed, November 1999, November 1999 [Update]
European Sources Online: European Voice
- 19.11.98: Traumatic and costly UK beef ban saga finally draws to a close- 15.7.99: Recovery in UK beef exports set to be slow- 21.10.99: EU explores ways to satisfy Paris on beef- 18.11.99: End to Anglo-French beef battle in sight- 13.1.00: EU faces uphill struggle to agree beef labelling rules by deadline- 4.5.00: Call for new measures to combat BSE- 6.7.00: New rules banning animal tissues suspected of carrying BSE from the animal and human food chain have been adopted by the Commission- 27.7.00: Food Safety Commissioner David Byrne has decided not to lift the ban on exports of Portuguese cattle...- 16.11.00: EU veterinary officials this week agreed to extend a planned BSE testing programme to all suspect animals in order to establish the precise level of BSE in Europe's cattle herds
Further information can be seen in these external links:
(long-term access cannot be guaranteed)
European Commission: Press and Communication Service
- Main EU legislation on BSE, 15.11.00
- Statement of David Byrne on new BSE-cases in Germany and Spain, 27.11.00
- David Byrne on BSE developments in Germany and Spain, 27.11.00
- SSC adopts opinion on scientific justification of national BSE measures, 29.11.00
- Results of the Standing Veterinary Committee on BSE, 1.12.00
Further Press Releases, Speeches and Memos from this source can be found by a search on RAPID. Choose the date period to be covered and insert 'BSE' in either the 'Title' or 'Text' fields.
European Commission: DG Agriculture
- Beef and veal
European Commission: DG Health and Consumer Protection
- Food safety: From the farm to the fork
- Animal feed safety
- BSE
- Scientific Steering Committee
European Commission: DG Education and Culture
- SCADPLUS: Union Policies: Public health and animal health - BSE
European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC)
- Homepage
- BSE: Transparency, controls and texting are fundamental, 16.11.00
- EU consumers demand answers and actions on BSE, 1.12.00
United Kingdom: Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- BSE Information
United Kingdom: The BSE Inquiry
- The BSE Inquiry webpage [including background and text of report], 2000
United Kingdom: Food Standards Agency
- Homepage
- BSE Controls Review
- BSE News Digest
- FSA welcomes Europe-wide BSE testing and new French controls, 23.11.00
France: Ministry of Agriculture and Fish
- ESB Info [in French] English site BSE info under construction
France: Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments (AFSSA)
- Homepage [in French]
- News [in French]
- Dossier: Encephalopathies spongiformes subaigues transmissibles [in French]
France: Embassy in the United Kingdom
- BSE and food safety, 2000-
Germany: Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forestry
- BSE Information [in German]
BBC News
- 26.10.00: Ministers 'misled' public on BSE
- 29.11.00: EU tackles BSE crisis
- 30.11.00: BSE and CJD
- 30.11.00: Europe's growing concern
- 1.12.00: Germany moves to ban British beef
[many of the BBC News sites above offer extensive hyperlinks to further information and background on the topic]
European Sources Online: Financial Times:
- 23.11.00: BSE controls scrutinised for impact on imports
- 23.11.00: First case of BSE in Spain fuels anxieties
- 25.11.00: BSE cases found in Germany
- 30.11.00: Schroder urges shift in farm policy
- 30.11.00: EU advised to learn from crisis in Britain
- 30.11.00: Ethical practice may have kept Sweden clear
- 30.11.00: European Commission acts to halt spread of BSE
- 1.12.00: Germany bans sale of untested beef
- 2.12.00: Spain fears cases of BSE are spreading
- 2.12.00: German diners fear the wurst: Information lines are collapsing under the weight of inquiries as the public asks some penetrating questions about the nation's favourite foods in the quest to avoid BSE
[further articles can be found by a search on FT.com and inserting 'BSE' in the search box]
Steve Dealler
- Information concerning BSE for the scientific world
Sperling Biomedical Foundation
- The Official Mad Cow Disease Homepage
Further and subsequent information on the subject of this week's In Focus can be found by an 'Advanced Search' in European Sources Online by inserting 'BSE' in the keyword field.
- This In Focus has been updated by 'In Focus: BSE in Europe'
Ian Thomson
Executive Editor, European Sources Online
Compiled: 2 December 2000
On 29 November 2000 the European Commission put forward several new proposals concerning the handling of BSE to be considered by a specially convened Agriculture Council on the 4 December 2000.
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