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From: TSS ()
8/28/2006 8:00:00 PM INTERVIEW: US To Ask OIE For Official BSE Status WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. will make a massive submission in September to the World Organization for Animal Health, known commonly by the French acronym OIE, for its decision on the U.S. status for bovine spongiform encephalopathy risk, a government agricultural official said Monday. J.B. Penn, U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary for farm and foreign agriculture services, said the U.S. will not be asking for a specific status level, but rather making a presentation and allowing the OIE to decide for itself. "We are going to submit to the OIE a package of information that details our entire experience with this disease," Penn told Dow Jones Newswires. "We're going to let them determine our status and tell us," he said, but stressed that the submission will show that USDA's "conclusion is that this disease is very, very rare in our livestock herd." The U.S. began restricting what ranchers could feed their cattle in 1996 as means to prevent the spread of BSE even though the disease had not been found here. It was not until December 2003 that the U.S. discovered BSE in a cow and most foreign markets shut off beef imports from the U.S. immediately. More than two years later Japan, once the largest buyer of U.S. beef, has just resumed scaled-down imports. South Korea, previously the second-largest importer, still bans U.S. beef. The USDA discovered two more BSE cases after boosting the amount of testing it does around the country in an "enhanced" program that is set to wind down soon. There are three OIE risk categories: "negligible," "controlled" and "undetermined." "Negligible" status is reserved for countries considered to have the smallest risk of BSE - a cattle disease that can be passed to humans through tainted meat - but Penn stressed it is not imperative for the U.S. to be put in that category for full trading privileges. "From a practical point of view, in terms of what you can trade, it makes no difference whether you're in the negligible category or whether you're in the controlled risk category," Penn said. "You can trade the full range of products - boneless beef, bone-in beef, variety meats, offal and processed products from animals of any age - if you're in either one of those categories." One country that is still not importing U.S. beef is China. It has offered to buy solely boneless cuts from young cattle under 30 months old, but the U.S. has repeatedly refused, saying all cuts from all cattle should be traded. USDA Secretary Mike Johanns stressed to China in an August letter - a copy of which was obtained by Dow Jones Newswires - that the U.S. is making its submission to the OIE for a BSE risk status. He offered to share the submission with China. USDA and OIE officials agree that it should be easier for the U.S. to get a "negligible" status thanks to a recent change in international standards. Previously, a country had to wait seven years after its latest BSE discovery before it could be considered in the a "negligible" risk. That changed earlier this year. Now countries must wait until 11 years after birth date of the last native-born cow discovered with the disease. USDA, in March, discovered its latest BSE case in a cow it says was more than 10 years old when it died. Source: Bill Tomson; Dow Jones Newswires; 202-646-0088; bill.tomson@dowjones.com http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=63967 TSS > US To Ask OIE For Official BSE Status WE all know OIE caved into USDA BSE demands of a MRR region, which is nothing more than a legal tool to trade all strains of TSE globally. So for the US to ask the OIE for BSE status is a hoot. WE all know what the status is, it is BSE GBR III and should be BSE GBR IV due to the lies, cover-up, and terribly flawed June 2004 enhanced BSE Surveillance program. ... Report The European Food Safety Authority and its Scientific Expert Working Group on the Assessment of the Geographical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Risk (GBR) were asked by the European Commission (EC) to provide an up-to-date scientific report on the GBR in the United States of America, i.e. the likelihood of the presence of one or more cattle being infected with BSE, pre-clinically as well as clinically, in USA. This scientific report addresses the GBR of USA as assessed in 2004 based on data covering the period 1980-2003. The BSE agent was probably imported into USA and could have reached domestic cattle in the middle of the eighties. These cattle imported in the mid eighties could have been rendered in the late eighties and therefore led to an internal challenge in the early nineties. It is possible that imported meat and bone meal (MBM) into the USA reached domestic cattle and leads to an internal challenge in the early nineties. A processing risk developed in the late 80s/early 90s when cattle imports from BSE risk countries were slaughtered or died and were processed (partly) into feed, together with some imports of MBM. This risk continued to exist, and grew significantly in the mid 90’s when domestic cattle, infected by imported MBM, reached processing. Given the low stability of the system, the risk increased over the years with continued imports of cattle and MBM from BSE risk countries. EFSA concludes that the current GBR level of USA is III, i.e. it is likely but not confirmed that domestic cattle are (clinically or pre-clinically) infected with the BSE-agent. As long as there are no significant changes in rendering or feeding, the stability remains extremely/very unstable. Thus, the probability of cattle to be (pre-clinically or clinically) infected with the BSE-agent persistently increases. EFSA Scientific Report on the Assessment of the Geographical BSE-Risk (GBR) of the United States of America (USA) Adopted July 2004 (Question N° EFSA-Q-2003-083) http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/2006-0011/2006-0011-1.pdf THE SEVEN 1/2 SCIENTIST REPORT *** ;-) http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/02n0273/02n-0273-EC244-Attach-1.pdf https://web01.aphis.usda.gov/regpublic.nsf/0/eff9eff1f7c5cf2b87256ecf000df08d?OpenDocument Docket No, 04-047-l Regulatory Identification No. (RIN) 091O-AF46 NEW BSE SAFEGUARDS (comment submission) http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/03-025IF/03-025IF-631.pdf I am in full support of the interim final rule which prohibits SRMs from being included in food for human consumption. In addition to the list of tissues published in this rule, I am requesting that additional tissues be added to the list. These would include dura ("sheath") covering the spinal cord and the ENTIRE INTESTINE (from pylorus to rectum). The scientific justification is provided below. THESE SRMs should also be prohibited from ANY FDA regulated food or product intended for human consumption, including but not limited to flavorings, extracts, etc. ... Dr. Linda Detwiler comments in full; http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/03-025IF/03-025IF-634.pdf sample survey via oie for bse is about 400 test via 100 million cattle, if i am not mistaken. MOST countries that went by these OIE guidelines all eventually went down with BSE. ...TSS IF they are not going to be science based, they should do everyone a favor and dissolve there organization. ... WHAT ABOUT RISK FACTORS TO OUR EXPORTING/IMPORTING PARTNERS FROM ALL OTHER TSEs IN THE USA, WITH RELATIONS TO SRMs ??? a.. BSE OIE see full text ; http://blogs.nature.com/news/blog/2006/06/cjdrelated_disease_can_incubat.html MAD COW FEED RECALLS ENFORCEMENT REPORT FOR AUGUST 9, 2006 KY, LA, MS, AL, GA, AND TN 11,000+ TONS Terry S. Singeltary Sr. P.O. BOX 42 Bacliff, TEXAS USA
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