Meat Industry Urges USDA to Develop Age Verification Program
US - The U.S. government should establish an age-verification Quality System Assessment (QSA) Program for Taiwan to ensure an orderly expansion to a full market opening to US beef products, according to a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that...

Japan Suspends Imports from US Beef Plant
US - The government said Wednesday it has suspended beef imports from a U.S. plant after two packages of chilled beef were found to contain spinal columns, a risk material for mad cow disease.

Korea Positive About Beef Rating
SOUTH KOREA - Korea will seek controlled-risk status regarding mad cow disease, according to the Agriculture Ministry yesterday.

DPP Calls for Campaign Against US Beef Imports
TAIWAN - The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus will mobilise a massive campaign against the Department of Health (DOH) if the government agrees to a full opening to US beef products, the DPP caucus said yesterday.

CA$1.6 Million BSE Research Project Underway
CANADA – In an effort to address the health-related risks posed by mad cow and other prion diseases, $1.6 million in funding is being provided by PrioNet Canada in partnership with the Alberta Prion Research Institute, to enable further research into...

Farmed Fish May Pose BSE Risk
US - University of Louisville neurologist Robert P. Friedland, M.D., questions the safety of eating farmed fish in today’s Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, adding a new worry to concerns about the nation’s food supply.

Findings Could Advance Understanding Of Mad Cow Disease
US - Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have gained a major insight into how the rogue protein responsible for mad cow disease and related neurological illnesses destroys healthy brain tissue.

Hong Kong Cautious Over British Beef
UK - Authorities in Hong Kong have announced it will resume processing applications for British beef imports under a new phased approach.

Global Body Lifts Age Limit on Beef Trade with Respect to BSE
GENERAL - The World Organization for Animal Health adopted a resolution Friday lifting cattle age limits for beef exports and imports with regard to mad cow disease, a move likely to strengthen U.S. pressure on Japan to import beef from older cattle.

OIE Eases Japan's Status
JAPAN — The world animal health body OIE said on Tuesday it had eased Japan's status on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease to “controlled risk,” a move that should boost meat trade with the Asian country.

Philippines Lifts Import Ban on Netherlands' Beef
PHILIPPINES - The Philippines has lifted the ban on beef and beef products from the Netherlands, following confirmation from the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) that the country has contained BSE.

Packers Say No Effect from Mad Cow
US - Two US cattle and meat packer groups say the confirmation of another case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad-cow disease, in Canada late Friday will not affect the safety of US beef, but a third group disagrees and wants...

New BSE controls make sense says NFU
UK - The Food Standards Agency's decision to move to a more proportionate and risk-based BSE control regime for cattle over 30 months old makes sense, the NFU said today.

Novel Approach to Detecting BSE Contamination
GENERAL - The dissemination of prohibited species-specific central nervous system (CNS) tissue contamination in meat must be tracked to mitigate human health risk associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

LGC Brings BSE Tests to South West England
UK - LGC, the international science-based service company, has announced the opening of its new BSE testing laboratory in Exeter, Devon.

Exports Approach Pre-BSE Levels
US - The value of U.S. beef exports in 2008 reached $3.6 billion – or 94 percent of where they stood in 2003, prior to BSE found in the U.S.

NCBA Criticise Feed Ban Proposals
US - The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) have criticised a decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to solicit public comments solely on delaying the implementation of a new feed ban, rather than soliciting public comment on the...

FDA Proposes Delay of BSE Final Rule Implementation
US - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today proposed a delay in the implementation of the final rule entitled, "Substances Prohibited from Use in Animal Food or Feed," more commonly referred to as the 2008 BSE final rule. The rule prohibits the...

Cuba Asks to Join International Mad Cow Project
CUBA - Cuba has requested to be included in a project of the Agricultural and Food Organization (FAO) that is seeking to prevent mad cow disease.

BSE Outbreak in Czech Republic
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - The Czech state veterinary service said on Friday it had found a new case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a cow in the north of the country and it would cull around 200 related cattle.