Media Releases
Australia announces new measures to protect public from effects of BSE
A certification system that will determine the conditions under which beef and beef products may enter Australia has been announced by Professor Richard Smallwood, Australia's Chief Medical Officer, and Mr Ian Lindenmayer, Managing Director of the Australia New Zealand Food Authority.
18 July 2001
Australia announces new measures to protect public from effects of BSE
A certification system that will determine the conditions under which beef and beef products may enter Australia was announced today by Professor Richard Smallwood, Australia's Chief Medical Officer, and Mr Ian Lindenmayer, Managing Director of the Australia New Zealand Food Authority.
The new measure will strengthen Australia's ability to keep the cattle disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease) out of the food supply. Eating food contaminated with BSE is believed to be the cause of the human disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD)
The new certification system will come into effect on 16 September 2001. It will apply to all countries, not just those in Europe. This will be coupled with a voluntary withdrawal of these products already on supermarket shelves if countries providing the beef ingredients have not provided the appropriate certification details.
"Australia has closely followed developments in the incidence and understanding of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and its relationship to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans," Professor Smallwood said.
"Like many other countries, Australia is concerned about the results from increased testing and surveillance in many European countries during the past year including in countries that had not previously reported confirmed cases of BSE in their cattle.
"The results of this increased surveillance and testing for BSE have demonstrated that the disease is more widespread than previously thought, probably through trade in live animals and animal feed, and the feeding of contaminated ruminant meat and bone meal to other ruminants.
"In response to concerns about the increasing incidence of BSE, Australia announced on 5 January, 2001 that it would suspend the imports of beef and beef products from 30 countries. This provisional measure was introduced to protect public health in Australia. It was intended to provide sufficient time to review scientific evidence and recommendations from relevant international organisations and to develop a targeted, robust, permanent measure."
This week, the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council amended the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to require beef and beef products sold in Australia to be derived from cattle that are free from BSE.
ANZFA's Managing Director, Ian Lindenmayer, said the new measures replace the temporary suspension of European beef and beef products.
"We are concerned that meat and bone meal likely to be infected with BSE has been exported from the United Kingdom and Europe to countries outside Europe. This could have transmitted the disease to cattle herds in those other countries," Mr Lindenmayer said.
"As there is no scientific test available to identify BSE material in individual processed meat products, we are adopting an approach based on an assessment of the BSE-safety of beef production in each country wishing to export to Australia.
"In Australia, ANZFA will categorise countries according to this BSE risk. Those countries, where BSE has been reported, will have the present import suspensions on beef products extended. Others will be required to provide official government certification of their BSE status.
"ANZFA has asked the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) to commence applying the new measures to imports arriving at the border from 16 September 2001, when the amendment to the Food Standards Code comes into effect."
Mr Lindenmayer said that categorisation of each country would be based on the information it provides on its measures to protect against BSE, the scientific assessment of specialist international bodies - such as the Scientific Steering Committee of the European Union and the Office International des Epizooties - other data on conditions within that country.
Countries will be assigned to one of the following categories:
Category A (certification required) - beef and beef products from these countries are regarded as posing a negligible risk to human health.
Category B (certification required) - these countries, while not reporting cases of BSE, may have been exposed to high risk factors, such as the importation of high-risk meat and bone meal.
Category C (certification required) - countries in this category are known to have considerable exposure to BSE risk materials, but have not reported indigenous cases of BSE.
Category D - beef and beef products from countries in this category pose the highest level of risk and will be refused entry to Australia. These countries will have reported cases of indigenous BSE in their herds.
Consignments of beef and beef products from category D countries cannot be imported. Products from category B and C countries can only be imported if the national authority can certify that the product is derived from animals not exposed to BSE risk and if specific risk materials have been excluded from the food chain.
Mr Lindenmayer said 15 European countries where cases of BSE have been reported will be deemed the highest risk (Category D) and will have the existing temporary import suspensions of beef and beef products extended.
These countries are Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Details of the certification regime can be found on the ANZFA website at www.anzfa.gov.au or at www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/strateg/bse/index.htm as well as in the fact sheet "Certifying the BSE-free status of beef and beef products".
Mr Lindenmayer said products containing beef sourced from countries in Category D will be unlawful after 16 September 2001 and will not be able to be sold in Australia.
"Almost all, if not all, of these products were removed from supermarket shelves in January under the voluntary withdrawal by retailers," Mr Lindenmayer said.
Further information: 1800 200 701
Food: www.anzfa.gov.au
Medical: www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/strateg/bse/index.htm
Animal production: www.affa.gov.au
Media contacts: Kay McNiece Dept of Health and Aged Care 0412 132 585
Lydia Buchtmann, ANZFA (02) 6271 2620 or 0411 268 525 mobile
