EU Scientists: No Guarantee US is BSE-Free

Date: Thu, Sep 18, 1997


    BRUSSELS (Reuter) - European Union scientists said Thursday the United

States had probably been free of madcow disease in the past but there was

no guarantee it would escape it in the future.

     The independent but influential Scientific Veterinary Committee issued

a statement saying a U.S. BSE monitoring program "has probably been

effective in detecting BSE should it have occurred...it is not an absolute

guarantee for the present situation."

     "At present the committee cannot guarantee that cattle from the United

States have not been exposed to and thus do not carry BSE infectivity,

though there is no positive evidence that they do so," it added.

     The committee met for a two-day session ending Wednesday.

     The ruling is significant because it comes at a time when the United

States is seeking an exemption from planned Brussels legislation banning

certain imported beef products, including tallow -- a substance widely used

in the cosmetics industry.

     The U.S. has said it is very concerned by the ban, due to take effect

in January, which it says has no scientific basis and could affect billions

of dollars' worth of exports to Europe.

     Winning "BSE-free" status from the committee would have been a

powerful weapon in their argument.

     The EU has imposed the restriction over fears that the products could

carry bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and could transmit a similar

fatal disease, Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (CJD), to humans.

     The veterinary committee also considered the situation in Australia,

where it said there was no evidence for the occurrence of BSE and the risk

of future occurrence was low.

 REUTER

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