UK Pushing For 30 Month Beef-On-Bone Limit By End Of Year
UK - The UK Government and red meat industry are pushing the European Commission to lift the age limit for removing the vertebral column from cattle to 30 months by the end of this year.
7 June 2007
1 minute read
The current EU age limit of 24 months, in place in the UK since beef exports resumed last year, is seen in this country as lacking the scientific justification for the huge burden it places on the industry.
A recent report on the issue by the European Food Standards Authority, which concluded that 33 months was the likely cut-off point for BSE infectivity in the spinal column, has sparked a request from the UK for a change in the law.
Although it did not go as far recommending a change in the age limit, the report has been interpreted as paving the way for a move to 30 months.
It reinforced the view of United Kingdom TSE advisory body SEAC that there was ‘negligible benefit’ in switching to a 24-month limit from 30 months last year.
At a recent meeting, Defra and the devolved authorities, the Food Standards Agency, and UK organisations representing farmers and meat processors agreed a common position on the issue and a possible timetable for change.
