Korea Seeks Improved Disease Rating
SOUTH KOREA - Korea now qualifies as a controlled risk country for mad cow disease under the regulations of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Tuesday.The ministry will apply for a reclassification in July. The OIE classifies its member countries into three grades for BSE. Ten including Australia and New Zealand are classified "negligible risk"; 31 such as Canada, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S. "controlled risk" and Korea and others "undetermined risk."
The classification is determined by how many BSE-risk cattle are tested and if cattle are fed with feed that contains ruminant protein. Korea applied to the OIE for a reclassification in 2007 but was told it had neither tested enough cattle nor given a sufficient account of its ban on animal feed.
Source: Chosun