BSE Scare Hurts Beef Sales And Prices | Beef sales in Poland have been heavil...
BSE Scare Hurts Beef Sales And Prices
Beef sales in Poland have been heavily hit by the discovery of its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Sales fell by nearly 4 percent in value and prices have dropped by up to 15 percent, according to the Polish meat industry’s chamber of commerce. Poland announced its first BSE-infected cow at the beginning of May. The chamber of commerce said Polish regulations did not protect consumers against BSE risk and cited cases of document falsification and illegal slaughtering. The chamber’s president claimed that “non-industrial slaughtering” accounted for 55 percent of total slaughtering volume in 2001.
Several countries have banned imports of Polish beef, but the European Union's food safety commissioner said on May 6 that there was no need to take measures against Poland since the EU requires the removal of those parts of the cattle carcass believed to carry the BSE prion, except in countries rated category for BSE risk.
The chamber of commerce also warned against the prospect of a sharp rise in Polish pork supply at the turn of the year, which could lead to a collapse in prices; it said the oversupply was a result of intervention procurement at above-market prices by the state Farming Market Agency.