UK’s secretary of state has announced the start of a managed transition towards the lifting of the Over Thirty Months (OTM) Rule, the BSE control set up in 1996 that automatically bans older cattle from entering the human food chain. It will be replaced by a robust testing system of cattle for BSE.

The Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) claims British beef is produced to some of the highest standards in the world and that consumer confidence has been restored. “Lifting the OTM rule will send out a positive signal to the rest of the world.” The organisation has also called for the dismantling of the Date Based Export Scheme, which sets out the conditions under which the UK can export beef to the rest of the EU, and which it is says hinders the industry and attempts to restart British beef exports banned in 1996.

The Food Standards Agency in July 2004 advised that the current control measures are no longer proportionate to the risk and that BSE testing would be an effective control. The incidence of BSE in the UK has now fallen below the threshold for moderate BSE risk status.

Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is currently seeking formal recognition of this with the EU Commission and for changes to be made in EU legislation to enable the UK industry to start exporting beef on similar terms to other member states.

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