A prediction that the number of BSE cases in the national herd will probably increase was made yesterday by Dr Patrick Wall, chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
Dr Wall, who issued a statement to highlight the need to separate trade and political issues from consumer and health issues surrounding the BSE crisis, said Ireland should cull its older cows.
Commenting on the new controls on BSE agreed in Brussels on Monday, Dr Wall said he supported Commissioner Byrne's decision to instruct the EU Food and Veterinary Office to assign teams of inspectors to assess member-states' BSE controls.
"One of these teams will visit Ireland on Monday, December 11th, to check BSE controls on farms and in mills, abattoirs and retail outlets. In addition, their checks will include rendering facilities and testing facilities for BSE and disposal of BSE carcasses," he said.
The EU proposal to destroy all cattle over 30 months, unless tested for BSE and found to be free of prions, could deliver consumer benefits, he accepted. It would be funded 70 per cent by the EU and 30 per cent by the member-states.
"If this Purchase for Destruction Scheme becomes a mechanism to remove surplus beef off the EU market, then it is a trade support rather than a BSE control measure," he said. "However, if the scheme is used to target the animals at risk of having BSE and remove them from the food chain, it would be a welcome consumer-protection initiative."
Ireland's young animals, he said, which had never eaten meat and bonemeal, can be considered safe for human consumption. Many of them are fattened at between 30-36 months.
"The animals that could be harbouring the BSE are older animals born in or before 1996. These animals could have had access to meat and bonemeal in cattle rations before the stringent controls were in place," Dr Wall said.
He said he believed the scheme provided Ireland with an opportunity to cull its old cows and remove them from the food chain.
"A combination of testing animals over 30 months of age and purchasing for destruction the older cows will offer maximum protection to consumers. In order to accurately assess the full extent of the BSE problem, an enhanced surveillance programme has been put in place under the Enfer test to test animals that die on farms from whatever cause and to test sick and injured animals after they are put down," he said.
"This will probably result in an increase in BSE numbers, but will accurately identify the age groups of cows most likely to be harbouring BSE and which should be targeted in the Purchase for Destruction Scheme."
Dr Wall said it would be easy for Ireland to comply with the ban on feeding meat-and-bone meal as only 17 Irish producers use it here. But given it is now considered unacceptable to feed such material to any farm animals here, it might be unreasonable to export it to other countries.
He said that although EU scientists argue that feeding animal protein, if prepared safely, to pigs poses no risk to animal or human health, there still remained consumer concerns and anxiety about the practice.