Agriculture: BSE

Lord Taylor of Holbeach
asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 23 June (WA 202), whether the continuance of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy testing programme to identify 40 cases at a cost of £60 million is necessary to prevent recurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [HL4610]

The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker)
The ban on feeding mammalian meat and bone meal to farmed livestock is the primary control to prevent a resurgence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The primary purpose of the testing programme is to monitor the effectiveness of such controls and the prevalence of the disease.

In the light of the declining BSE epidemic, the EU has agreed that member states meeting prescribed criteria can apply to implement a reduced testing programme which could come into effect from 1 January 2009. The European Commission will determine the terms of the reduced programme on the basis of advice from the European Food Safety Authority, which is expected later this month.