BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY

"There is no need for anyone in New Zealand to be concerned about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)," Agriculture Minister Lockwood Smith said today.

"There has never been a case of this disease in New Zealand. Our beef is 100% free of BSE and we do not import beef from the United Kingdom. Beef on our supermarket shelves is safe."

As well as there being no beef imports from the United Kingdom, New Zealand banned the importation of live cattle from the UK in 1988. That ban remains in place.

While New Zealand does import semen and embryos from the UK, Dr Smith said much research evidence suggested that BSE could not be transmitted through these genetic bovine materials.

Nevertheless, tight controls were maintained governing the importation of bovine genetic material.

Prior to 1989, New Zealand imported more than 250,000 doses of semen from the UK without safeguards.

Despite the lack of safeguards and BSE being at a high prevalence at that time in the UK, the disease was not imported into New Zealand.

New Zealand banned imports of semen from the UK in 1989, and did not reopen the trade until late-1992 following an international standard being adopted by the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE), of which New Zealand is one of 144 member countries.

In addition, New Zealand applied extra safeguards over and above the international standard to protect against the introduction of BSE.

These additional safeguards include the requirement that semen and embryos do not come from cattle born prior to 1992, which was more than a year after the UK MAFF had imposed a ban on the feeding of ruminant offal to any animals. Furthermore. donors of semen and embryos must come from farms which have never had a case of BSE.

Dr Smith said there were no conclusive links between BSE and Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans.

"Nevertheless, the Ministry of Agriculture has today suspended imports of any products derived from cattle which are intended for human consumption. The suspension will remain in place until we are able to fully assess the information emerging from the UK."

Dr Smith said New Zealand constantly reviews all its importation conditions to ensure that they protect us from the introduction of exotic diseases.