New BSE prevention rules pose a challenge for industry
CHILLIWACK, B.C. - Cattle carcasses hang from giant hooks on the ceiling at B.C.'s largest slaughterhouse. Rivulets of blood and bone dust trail off into drains on the cement kill-room floor.

P.E.I. cattle industry gets $3.8M to meet new mad cow rules
CANADA - The federal and P.E.I. governments will spend $3.8 million to help the Island's cattle industry comply with new guidelines aimed at reducing the risk of mad cow disease.

EU Investigates Easing BSE-Related Feed Ban
EU - Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as 'mad cow disease', has been the target of European research for many years, especially as the disease has succeeded in wreaking havoc on the lives of farmers and consumers alike.

COA Appeals Mad-Cow Risk Rating
TAIWAN - The Council of Agriculture (COA) has lodged an appeal after the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) classified Taiwan among nations harboring a "controlled risk" for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), rather than a "negligible ri...

Taiwan Ends Canadian Beef Import Ban Prompted by Mad-Cow Cases
TAIWAN - Taiwan's government on Saturday ended a ban on Canadian beef imports imposed four years ago because of mad- cow disease.

Class Action Seeks Compensation For Canada Beef
CANADA - The Canadian beef industry took a step closer to easing the pain of the country's BSE crisis after Quebec Superior Court Justice Richard Wagner granted authorization for a billion dollar class action suit against the Federal Government to proceed...

Top-flight BSE Surveillance Keeps Borders Open for Trade
ALBERTA - The Food Safety Division’s (FSD) animal surveillance system for detecting bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Alberta cattle is helping to keep the borders open for trade with other countries, says Dr. Gerald Ollis, Alberta’s chief provincial...

Mad-cow Lawsuit Allowed To Proceed
QUEBEC - A Quebec Superior Court ruling has given the go-ahead to a multibillion-dollar class-action lawsuit targeting the federal government's actions during the mad-cow crisis.

Report May Lead To Looser Beef Import Rule
JAPAN - A report due out this week likely represents an initial step toward the government relaxing its stringent conditions on beef imports from the United States.

Prometric Announces Positive Development For Mad Cow Disease Detection
MONTREAL – BSafE Innovations Inc. (BSafE), a joint venture company owned by ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (TSX - PLI) and Top Meadow Farms, dedicated to veterinary applications of prion research, is delighted to announce preliminary findings from its most...

BSE fears over move to relax farm feed rules
UK - Animal remains could once more be added to farm feed, raising fears of another BSE outbreak, following tests by European scientists.

S. Korea's Quarantine Service Finds Ribs In US Beef Shipment
SOUTH KOREA - South Korea's quarantine service said Wednesday it has found two boxes of U.S. beef ribs, which cannot be brought into the country under current import rules, in a shipment of American beef.

Swiss BSE Controls Rewarded With Lower Risk Status
UK - The Swiss beef industry was yesterday rewarded for its efforts in controlling bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), when the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) reduced its status to "controlled risk" for the disease.

United States Downgraded To Controlled Risk Country for BSE
WASHINGTON - The American Meat Institute (AMI) said today that it is gratified by the World Organization for Animal Health's (OIE) adoption of a recommendation to classify the U.S. as a controlled risk country for BSE and hopes that this classification will...

Canada's Cattle Awarded Safer Designation For Mad Cow Protection Measures
CANADA - The world's leading health organization has stamped Canada with the second highest safety designation for mad cow protection measures. Canada's cattle industry welcomed the announcement since its beef sector has lost billions in export dollars...

UK Pressing For 30-Month Beef-On-The-Bone Limit
UK - THE UK Government has pledged to continue to ‘press hard’ for a return to a 30-month beef-on-the-bone limit, following an inconclusive report on the issue by the European Food Standards Authority.

Japan: Public Should Have Say
JAPAN - In its recent interim report on the two domestically raised cows that were diagnosed with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in 2003, the health ministry's research team said it could not confirm the infectiousness of the two cows--23 months...

EFSA BSE Report ‘Too Cautious’
UK - British beef producers have hit out at a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report on BSE infectivity in specified risk material for not relaxing the rules. The key findings of the EFSA report were that the BSE epidemic in EU is on the declin...

Effects Of Mad Cow Crisis Still Linger In Canada's Beef Industry, Says Census
CANADA - Cattle producer John Hrasko took no pleasure watching his herd grow over the last few years as the economics of the mad cow disease scare squeezed joy and profit from his mixed farm.

EFSA Publish Opinions On SRM's
EU - EFSA has today published an opinion on the likelihood of BSE infectivity in specified risk materials SRM)from cattle at different age groups.