The Agriculture Minister says he’s liaising with Chinese authorities to ensure our beef exports restart as soon as possible.
Shipments were suspended yesterday after a case of atypical BSE – which occurs sporadically – was discovered in a cow.
It doesn’t relate to feed contamination, which was the cause of the major ‘mad cow disease’ outbreak in the late ’90s.
Wexford IFA Chair, Jer O’Mahony, says that the particular animal that tested positive was not in the food chain:
“BSE exists in all livestock at a very low level anyway. The case that was picked up was in an animal that was ten years old so it wasn’t in the food chain. The average age for slaughter typically is between tow and four years old.”
The animal was not destined for China – but, as a precaution, they’ve suspended all shipments of Irish beef indefinitely.
Mr. O’Mahony admits it’s disappointing, but says the Government is committed to maintaining high standards:
“Very disappointed that the market to China had only just opened up after a five year block and now this has closed it. However, this does show that the departments detecting regime is really working very well.”
To finish off, he went on to say that beef products remain safe to eat:
“We need to stress here that this is an atypical case of BSE which means it’s non-contagious.”
