Food agency foresees end to OTMS

19 July 2000



Food agency foresees end to OTMS

By Alistair Driver

OLDER cattle could be allowed back into the food chain if BSE is deemed to be sufficiently under control by next year, said the Food Standards Agency.

The Over Thirty Months Scheme for cattle could be disbanded next year or in 2002, said agency officials at a meeting in London on Tuesday (18 July).

However, Sir John Krebs, FSA chairman, said that any changes in policy would have to be agreed by the European Union.

Peter Hewson, of the FSAs veterinary public health unit, said a change in the scheme should not involve raising the age limit above 30 months.

Changes would based on evidence that cattle born after a certain date were not exposed to BSE infection or were exposed to significantly lower levels.

Cattle born after that date would then be allowed back into the food chain, as long as there was no evidence linking them to BSE, said Mr Hewson.

But he ruled out 1 August 1996, when feed controls came into place, as the cut off-date because at least one animal born since then has been found with BSE.

A more feasible date is 28 September, 1998, after which the UK Cattle Tracing System was improved, Mr Hewson said.

In theory, that would allow cattle over thirty months old to come back on to the market for human consumption after March 2001.

But Mr Hewson said October 1999 may be a more realistic date because it allow more time for experts to monitor any risks.

That would put older cattle back into the food chain in March 2002.