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In the Frankfurt cattle market, demand has dropped by 40 per cent. In Brussels there is certain weariness, derived from the fact that earlier warnings were ignored by countries that thought themselves BSE-free and did not want to damage confidence by suggesting preventative measures.The prospects of these countries remaining free of the disease has become more flimsy. In July, a geographical risk assessment for the European Commission concluded that, given the pattern of distribution of contaminated meat and bone meal from Britain, cases in Spain and Germany could not be ruled out. At that time, Germany was still allowing so-called Specified Risk Material such as brains and spinal columns into the food chain.Such complacency is passed and there is a growing realisation that only drastic measures can restore confidence. Yesterday’s measures ensure that only cattle of under 30 months, the age after which BSE develops, enter the food chain.Older cows will, after slaughter, be tested or taken out of the food chain as part of the Commission’s “purchase for destruction” scheme. If animals test negatively they can be eaten or used for animal feed.For Britain, which started the BSE epidemic, only minor changes will be needed, such as the elimination of bird and fish meal. But few countries have the ability to screen for BSE in such great numbers yet.There is little cause for satisfaction on this side of the Channel.

The Italian Prime Minister, Guiliano Amato, said yesterday that the government of the former British prime minister, John Major, had already “accepted its responsibility for this”. Such an admission “is something we will have to take into account in the future”, he said.. Egypt has suspended imports of beef from Western Europe over the BSE crisis. Egypt has suspended imports of beef from Western Europe over the BSE crisis.
The move came after the publication of the European Union’s Scientific Steering Committee report into mad cow disease.The Irish Republic is set to be hardest hit, as Egypt is its largest overseas beef buyer.Croatia also banned beef, cattle and bone meal from six EU countries, fearing the possible spread of the disease.It will no longer take imports from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.The decree also prohibits transport of cattle and beef products through Croatia, but does not apply to milk and milk products from these countries, the Agriculture Ministry said. No symptoms of mad cow disease have been detected in Croatia.Irish government officials were today assessing the impact of Egypt’s decision, but immediately said Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh would go to Egypt himself early next month to outline Europe-wide precautions being taken against BSE.He also reported that a technical delegation from his department would travel to Cairo this week to press for a reversal of the move, set to cost Ireland IR£200 million a year.The Minister said: “The difficulty here is that if the ban was to translate into a permanent ban, typically it would take 12 months for it to be lifted.”What I will be seeking to do is seek to ensure that this temporary suspension will not go as far as actually banning Irish beef.”There is a problem in Europe and we are caught up in that problem – nothing has changed in Ireland or in relation to Irish beef.”Mr Walsh said he had spoken to Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who had agreed to speak personally to Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak to stress that the BSE problem was a European one rather than specifically Irish, and that precautions taken in Ireland were the most stringent.The Egyptians acted in the face of a report from the European Union’s Scientific Steering Committee.According to the latest figures in Dublin, up to the end of last week, there had been 20 cases in Ireland so far this month – the highest-ever number for the disease in a single month.Mr Walsh said: “What’s creeping up is the age of the cattle affected, and we do not consume older beef. There is a very long incubation period.”Every possible precaution is taken, and I would go so far as to say that there are no circumstances in which affected BSE beef can get into the food chain.”Tom Parlon, president of Ireland’s main farm-representative organisation, the Irish Farmers’ Association, said of the Egyptian decision: “This is a major blow to Ireland.”Egypt is our biggest single market for beef, worth about IR£200 million a year, or 350,000 cattle.”It is going to cause major difficulties for our farmers in terms of getting rid of stock.”.

Europe took a drastic new step to end the consumer panic over the spread of mad cow disease yesterday, by proposing a destruction programme for up to two million cattle and a ban on all bone and animal feed. Europe took a drastic new step to end the consumer panic over the spread of mad cow disease yesterday, by proposing a destruction programme for up to two million cattle and a ban on all bone and animal feed.
The draconian measures follow the widespread consumer panic that has spread from France to Spain and Germany, which confirmed its first cases of BSE last week. They mark a substantial extension of European Union measures to try to eliminate the still spreadingepidemic.”BSE is an EU-wide problem which requires EU-wide answers Firm action is required. We have to restore consumer confidence,” said the European agriculture commissioner, Franz Fischler.David Byrne, the European commissioner for health and consumer protection, warned that BSE threatened every EU country and that the disease “does not know borders”.Yesterday’s EU measures, which are expected to be approved by agriculture ministers when they meet on Monday in Brussels, means that all meat from cattle over 30 months will be removed from the food chain unless they have been tested BSE free.Britain wants even tougher standards because BSE tests only pick up the disease in its later stages.

In Parliament yesterday, the head of the Food Standards Agency warned that French controls may not be sufficient to prevent BSE-infected beef reaching Britain. Sir John Krebs told MPs that there was a risk that BSE-infected beef, particularly in processed foods, such as salami, could be reaching the UK.He said that he did not believe that France’s controls were “100 per cent watertight”. There was likely to have been “under reporting” of BSE cases in France early on and that protection of British consumers depended on “an element of trust” of France’s authorities, Sir John said.The new EU measures are expected to come into effect on 1 January. From that point older cattle will either have to be tested, after being slaughtered, or disposed of under the new scheme.Meanwhile, meat and bone-based animal feed, blamed for spreading the disease, will be banned for use with all animals.

A number of countries, including Germany, resisted this until last week because there is no evidence that it is harmful to poultry or pigs. However, most governments now concede that it has been impossible to stop farmers ignoring the ban.The FSA will review its advice on the safety of French beef after next week’s five-day inspection visit by EU veterinary and scientific experts.. Farmers organisations in Germany warned yesterday that the country’s beef industry was on the verge of collapse, as government hotlines were jammed with callers seeking reassurance over last week’s discovery of two cases of BSE in home-bred cows. Farmers organisations in Germany warned yesterday that the country’s beef industry was on the verge of collapse, as government hotlines were jammed with callers seeking reassurance over last week’s discovery of two cases of BSE in home-bred cows.
The first opinion poll published since the scare found 30 per cent of those questioned had stopped eating beef. Another third said they were cutting their consumption.The first effects of the consumer boycott are already being felt by the industry.