BSE                                     ...

BSE                                                                                                

OIE Opposes Beef Bans

The Office of International Epizootics (OIE) — the world organization for animal health — issued a press release Jan. 12 emphasizing that OIE trade recommendations should not be used to justify import bans on countries that have announced their first case of BSE.

The OIE, according to the release, “has become increasingly concerned about reports of international trade disruptions involving the misinterpretation of OIE standards.”

The OIE opposes the practice of “applying trade bans when an exporting country reports the presence of BSE, without consulting the recommendations in the Code or conducting a risk analysis in accordance with its OIE and WTO obligations.”

While the Code provides increasingly restrictive recommendations which are commensurate with the level of BSE risk in each of the country status categories, it does not recommend a ban on beef products, but rather says that “fresh meat may be imported safely from a country of any BSE status but with increasing restrictions so that, for countries presenting a high BSE risk, more severe measures are applied to the cattle from which the meat was derived and to the meat itself. The experts consider that, if these measures are followed, the meat is safe.”
The OIE chapter on BSE currently describes five levels of exporting country status based on their determined risk level (free, provisionally free, minimal risk, moderate risk and high risk). It then addresses trade conditions for various commodities through an increasing degree of restrictions commensurate with the risks presented.

Banning countries with a single case of BSE, such as the United States, penalizes “countries with a good and transparent surveillance system for animal diseases and zoonoses, and which have demonstrated their ability to control the risks identified. This may result in a reluctance to report future cases and an increased likelihood of disease spread internationally.”

The release may be read in its entirety on the OIE Web site, www.oie.int.

Japan                                                                                            

Japanese Minister Says Lifting U.S. Beef Ban “Desirable”

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman was told by her Japanese counterpart that an early lifting of the ban on U.S. beef is "desirable" and said there would be talks on the subject next week, the Associated Press reported.

In a phone conversation Yoshiuki Kamei and Veneman "agreed that a quick re-opening of the beef trade was desirable," a Japanese ministry official said.

Veneman said a U.S. delegation would head to Japan next week to discuss resuming the beef trade.

Kamei later told reporters that the condition for resuming trade depended on the United States taking measures to prevent bovine spongiform encephalopathy that would reassure Japanese consumers.

"I told her that the U.S. measures have not reached the level of Japanese standards," Kamei said.
Australia urged the resumption of U.S. beef exports to Japan in order to protect its exports to the U.S., according to the AP.

Samantha Jamieson, spokesperson for Meat and Livestock Australia, said that if American beef was consumed domestically rather than exported, Australia's exports to the United States could be hurt.

Wholesale prices of Australian beef in Japan have risen 60 percent since the ban on U.S. beef. Jamieson said that if consumers saw such prices they could be turned off to beef entirely.

BSE                                                                                                

OIE Opposes Beef Bans

The Office of International Epizootics (OIE) — the world organization for animal health — issued a press release Jan. 12 emphasizing that OIE trade recommendations should not be used to justify import bans on countries that have announced their first case of BSE.

The OIE, according to the release, “has become increasingly concerned about reports of international trade disruptions involving the misinterpretation of OIE standards.”

The OIE opposes the practice of “applying trade bans when an exporting country reports the presence of BSE, without consulting the recommendations in the Code or conducting a risk analysis in accordance with its OIE and WTO obligations.”

While the Code provides increasingly restrictive recommendations which are commensurate with the level of BSE risk in each of the country status categories, it does not recommend a ban on beef products, but rather says that “fresh meat may be imported safely from a country of any BSE status but with increasing restrictions so that, for countries presenting a high BSE risk, more severe measures are applied to the cattle from which the meat was derived and to the meat itself. The experts consider that, if these measures are followed, the meat is safe.”
The OIE chapter on BSE currently describes five levels of exporting country status based on their determined risk level (free, provisionally free, minimal risk, moderate risk and high risk). It then addresses trade conditions for various commodities through an increasing degree of restrictions commensurate with the risks presented.

Banning countries with a single case of BSE, such as the United States, penalizes “countries with a good and transparent surveillance system for animal diseases and zoonoses, and which have demonstrated their ability to control the risks identified. This may result in a reluctance to report future cases and an increased likelihood of disease spread internationally.”

The release may be read in its entirety on the OIE Web site, www.oie.int.

Japan                                                                                            

Japanese Minister Says Lifting U.S. Beef Ban “Desirable”

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman was told by her Japanese counterpart that an early lifting of the ban on U.S. beef is "desirable" and said there would be talks on the subject next week, the Associated Press reported.

In a phone conversation Yoshiuki Kamei and Veneman "agreed that a quick re-opening of the beef trade was desirable," a Japanese ministry official said.

Veneman said a U.S. delegation would head to Japan next week to discuss resuming the beef trade.

Kamei later told reporters that the condition for resuming trade depended on the United States taking measures to prevent bovine spongiform encephalopathy that would reassure Japanese consumers.

"I told her that the U.S. measures have not reached the level of Japanese standards," Kamei said.
Australia urged the resumption of U.S. beef exports to Japan in order to protect its exports to the U.S., according to the AP.

Samantha Jamieson, spokesperson for Meat and Livestock Australia, said that if American beef was consumed domestically rather than exported, Australia's exports to the United States could be hurt.

Wholesale prices of Australian beef in Japan have risen 60 percent since the ban on U.S. beef. Jamieson said that if consumers saw such prices they could be turned off to beef entirely.