DOH nervous about new report of mad cow in US

Taiwan carefully watching reports that an older animal on a US ranch is suspected of having mad cow disease, and that tests in Britain may take up to two weeks to confirm the disease, a Department of Health (DOH) official said yesterday.

Chen Lu-hung (陳陸宏), director of the DOH Bureau of Food Safety, said that the suspect animal, the species of which was not disclosed and which was first tested in November, did not enter the human food or livestock feed supply, because it was unable to walk when delivered for slaughter.

It did not have any chance of entering the Taiwan market, Chen added.

Chen however, that if the animal is confirmed to have brain-wasting bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, Taiwan will suspend imports of US beef immediately.

If that is the case, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will have to produce epidemiological documents proving that no such cases exist in the US before Taiwan will reconsider reopening its doors to US beef, Chen added.

US just arrived back on the menu in Taiwan in April after being banned for a year and a half because of the discovery of a single case of mad cow disease in Washington State in 2003.

The DOH announced in late March that Taiwan would conditionally reopen its market to US boneless beef from cattle under 30 months old beginning April 16.

Meat US cattle under 30 months old that is clear of bones, offal and specific risk materials, including brains, trigeminal ganglia, dorsal root ganglia and spinal marrow, and with certificates issued by the USDA, can now be imported into Taiwan. Ground beef is not included in the opening list, bureau officials added.

The DOH Bureau of Food Safety, meanwhile, has asked the USDA to provide Taiwan with a list of the names of legal, contracted US slaughterhouses to be used as a reference to compare with the sources of the newly imported beef.

Taiwan and agriculture officials have traveled to the US to conduct on-site inspections of the implementation of US safeguards against mad cow disease and have recently completed the necessary reviews for resuming the beef trade.

Taiwan US$325 million-worth of US beef and beef products in 2003 and was the sixth-largest importer of US beef before Taiwan imposed the ban in December 2003. Since then, Australian beef has replaced US beef in the Taiwan market.

More 40 countries, including Japan, the largest importer, banned US beef in the aftermath of the mad cow disease scare, seriously affecting the US beef export trade, which is worth at least US$3.8 billion a year.

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US mad cow case not confirmed