Is Australian Beef Tested for Bse
Calm prevails following US BSE find
THE detection of a BSE case in the US last week is appearing to cause little in the way of sustained alarm in export markets where Australian and US beef compete for market share.
Despite some market volatility on the back of the BSE discovery, reaction from key customers Japan and Korea would suggest US export volumes won't suffer, in turn affording little bounce for Australian exporters.
After the announcement, US live cattle future prices fell by the daily limit, but have since stabilised as the facts emerged and the US beef industry geared into damage control overdrive.
The only continuing ripple appears to be in Indonesia, where the government has halted all US beef imports, accounting for about 0.6pc of the US's overall export volumes. In Japan, observers of the wholesale market report steady interest in US beef, with supermarkets and restaurants continuing to sell US product.
Tensions caused by the positive detection were higher in Korea, a major customer of the US and Australia's third largest beef export market. There major retail groups temporarily suspended US beef sales on the morning of April 25 when news of the positive test broke. One of those retailers, Tesco-owned Homeplus, had resumed sales that day once US authorities had calmed concerns the detection might pose a threat to human health.
While some Korean beef traders anticipated rising demand for Australian beef in the near term, other market insiders fear the news could have a negative impact on total imported beef consumption given the negative press and acute public sensitivity surrounding the stigma carried by any connection to BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy).
The Korean Government has moved to further quell public unease, announcing it would not halt US beef imports, but would strengthen quarantine inspections of US beef.
The Australian Government says it will work with trading partners and continue to monitor the situation in the US.
"Worldwide, the number of BSE-affected cattle is decreasing year by year, which shows that the global response to BSE has been appropriate," Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig said.
US officials moved quickly to assure the world its beef remained safe to eat, despite uncovering its fourth case of BSE since 2003.
The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the positive test was picked up in a dairy cow from California. Similar to the last two cases in June 2005 and March 2006, the most recent test for BSE reportedly came back positive to an atypical strain, a very rare form of the disease not generally associated with an animal consuming infected feed. BSE is not transmitted via milk and its products.
APHIS said the animal was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, and at no time presented a risk to the food supply or human health.
The US is classified by the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) as a 'controlled BSE risk' country, meaning it has effective measures in place to protect animal health and public health in relation to BSE.
Australia does not import beef or beef products for human consumption from US cattle.
USDA chief veterinarian John Clifford said the detection would have no bearing on the US's BSE status. "The US has in place all of the elements of a system that OIE has determined ensures that beef and beef products are safe for human consumption: a mammalian feed ban, removal of specified risk materials, and vigorous surveillance. Consequently, this detection should not affect US trade," he said.
American Meat Institute executive vice president James Hodges issued a statement that US beef products are among the safest in the world and that the detection only serves to prove that the USDA's animal disease surveillance system works to protect US and the public.
The US cattle herd is more than 90 million head, and more than 30 million head are processed annually. Since 2003, the US has diagnosed four total cases of BSE and the last case was diagnosed in 2006.
"That translates into one of the lowest rates of BSE in any nation that has ever diagnosed a case," Mr Hodges said.
The disease emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s and peaked in 1992 at over 37,000 cases in a single year.
"Certainly, BSE news can generate concerns and questions, but the facts show that our animal disease prevention system is strong and our beef is safe. Consumers can continue to enjoy their beef with confidence," Mr Hodges said.
JBS,the world's biggest beef producer, issued a statement to investors saying the company was confident that US beef exports would not be affected. "The controls that have been implemented through OIE regulation as well as within each country's inspection service since the BSE outbreaks of more than a decade ago are such that the risks of the past do not exist anymore. The separation of SRM (Specified Risk Materials) protects product entering the food chain, guaranteeing nutritious and healthy beef to consumers," JBS told investors.
"The general consensus is that international trade should not suffer any material disruption as a result of this incident bearing in mind that the sanitary status of the US rated by the OIE remains unchanged and that international sanitary agreements contemplate isolated incidents such as the one in question insufficient to cause any trade disruption."
Source: https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/3608293/calm-prevails-following-us-bse-find/
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