AGRICULTURE: GEOGRAPHICAL BSE RISK CONSTANT OR DECLINING SINCE 1996.

• Position: Government Activity - International Pages - Brief Article

In Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands (along with Switzerland), the presence of the BSE agent is confirmed in the SSC report, albeit at a low level (incidence below 100). BSE is likely to be present at levels below detection limits in Italy, Spain and Germany and is unlikely though not excluded, in Austria, Finland and Sweden. Germany's Agriculture Minister Karl-Heinz Funcke described the SSC's report as "pure speculation".Third countries.With the exception of Switzerland, actual cases of BSE have not been discovered in any of the nine third countries assessed thus far. The SSC came to the conclusion that it is highly unlikely that BSE could be present in Australia, Chile, Norway, New Zealand, Argentina or Paraguay (risk level 1), and considers that it is still unlikely, but cannot be excluded that BSE is present in the USA and Canada (risk level II).Risk management.The Commission emphasises that geographical BSE risk is not an indicator of a risk to humans via food consumption, but a qualitative indicator of the risk that live cattle could be infected with the BSE-agent. The risk to humans also depends on risk management measures. For example, excluding Specific Risk Materials (SRMs) like brain, spinal cord and other tissues with potentially high concentrations of BSE infectivity from entering the food chain reduces...