Ministers mull lower BSE test age
29 January 2001
Ministers mull lower BSE test age
By FWi staff
EU farm ministers meet in Brussels on Monday (29 January) to discuss whether to lower the age at which cattle are tested for BSE.
Germany has already announced it is going to test all cattle over 24 months, after its inspectors discovered of a 28-month-old cow with BSE.
Currently only animals aged over 30 months have to be tested for the disease on the Continent.
There is expected to be opposition from countries which believe their incidence of the disease is too low to justify expanded testing.
There are also concerns that the move could lead to a panic by suggesting that animals going into the food chain at the moment are unsafe.
Minister will also consider banning sow stalls for pregnant pigs and other welfare measures proposed by the EU Commission earlier this month.
Britain banned the stalls two years ago and has called for all producers to be on an equal footing.
Sweden has outlawed the practice while Finland, The Netherlands and Denmark have bans due to come into force within the next few years.
Ranged against a ban will be big producers such as Spain, France and possibly Germany.
Animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming said a ban on sow stalls would add less than 2p/kg to pigmeat prices.
There are also moves for a ban on castration, a practice already banned in the UK.
Measures will not be fully introduced until 2012.
Britain currently bans all cattle over 30 months old from the food chain.