A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 3,2001
Groups Issue Statement Regarding Efforts To Prevent BSE In U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. The
following statement was recently
issued by Several breed associa
tions and processor groups re
garding efforts to prevent BSE in
the U.S.:
“As representatives of cattle
producers, feed manufacturers,
Tenderers, processors and veteri
narians, we reaffirm our commit
ment to effective implementation
DENVER, Colo. Recently
Chuck Schroeder, CEO National
Cattlemen’s Beef Association,
posted a report regarding BSE
and the U.S. cattle industry.
“Recent reports indicate that a
Texas feed mill may have inad
vertently mixed in meat and
bone meal derived from U.S. cat
tle with a feed supplement which
later was fed to some cattle. It is
important to understand this is a
compliance issue, not a safety
issue. There has never been a
case of BSE found in the U.S.
“The National Cattlemen’s
Beef Association (NCBA) sup
ports full compliance with FDA
regulations that prohibit the
feeding of mammalian-derived
protein supplements that might
be a risk for carrying the BSE in
fectious agent. We have made it
clear to the feed industry and the
rendering industry from the start
that we expect full compliance. If
there are violations of the law -
whether purposeful or accidental
- NCBA expects these to be dealt
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and enforcement of sound, sci
ence-based measures to prevent
the BSE agent from entering the
United States. This includes im
port restrictions, feed bans, and
active surveillance.
“Active surveillance in the
U.S. has not revealed a single
case of BSE. BSE regulations
have a firm scientific foundation.
They reflect the wisdom of care
ful consideration and open de
NCBA Posts BSE Information, Statement
with according to law.
“If there are folks within the
industry who don’t understand
the seriousness of the situation,
they need to be brought to under
stand it both by communica
tion from the industry and if nec
essary by penalties from the
regulatory authorities involved.
There is simply no excuse for
non-compliance. As an industry,
we are unwavering on that.
“This is not a safety issue be
cause the meat and bone meal in
question originated in the U.S.,
and there has never been a case
of BSE found here. The FDA
feed regulation ban is a critical
firewall measure and was imple
mented as an extra precaution.
“While BSE is not found in
the U.S., the feed ban assures
that if BSE somehow ever did get
into this country, it would not
spread and could be quickly iso
lated and eradicated. It should be
noted that just feeding mammal
derived proteins to cattle does
not in and of itself cause BSE.
RIGIDPLY...
bate. Surveillance and enforce
ment in the U.S. have been
vigilant.
“Three components of BSE
prevention that should remain
the highest priority of industry
and government are;
“1) Strict enforcement of im
port restrictions designed to keep
the BSE agent out of the U.S.,
“2) Achieve 100% compliance
with the FDA feed ban, and
BSE is only spread through feed
if that feed is contaminated with
the BSE infectious agent.
“The BSE agent only has been
found in central nervous system
tissue including brain, spinal
cord and retinal tissues. The BSE
infectious agent has never been
found in muscle meat, which is
the principle way beef is con
sumed in the American diet.”
Background Information
Because NCBA views compli
ance with the FDA feed regula
tion as a top priority, the organi
zation hosted a meeting in
Washington, D.C., on Monday to
discuss this issue.
Planning for the meeting
began last November.
NCBA invited officials of
the FDA Center for Veteri
nary Medicine, the USDA
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, the feed
industry and the meatpack
ing and rendering industries
to the meeting to discuss
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“3) Continued support for ac
tive USDA BSE surveillance in
the U.S.
“We pledge our continued vig
ilance and commitment to BSE
prevention in the U.S.”
Statement By:
The National Cattlemen’s
Beef Association
American Feed
Industry Association
American Veterinary
ensuring full compliance with the
FDA rule.
This meeting was timely, given
the situation with the Texas feed
mill. The mill discovered the po
tential mistake and notified the
feed yard. The feed yard then
ceased to use the supplement in
question.
The cattle fed the supplement
have been identified and are
being voluntarily held pending
FDA’s testing of feed samples.
FDA expects to have the results
of these tests early next week and
will determine if meat and bone
meal is present and, if so, in an
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Medical Association
American Meat Institute
National Meat Association
National Renderers Association
North American
Meat Processors Association
National Milk
Producers Federation
American Farm
Bureau Federation
National Grain and
Feed Association
amount sufficient to be of conse-
quence.
The issue, reported Schroeder,
is not a safety issue. Ten years of
USDA surveillance and testing
of suspicious cattle has never
found BSE (bovine spongiform
encephalopathy) or any similar
disease in U.S. cattle. It is a
regulatory/compliance issue, and
as such, FDA is taking action.
For current information on
BSE, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
and new variant CJD, visit
NCSA’s scientifically reviewed
information resource at
www.bseinfo.org.