The Federal Government is ditching its controversial "beef off the shelves" policy in the event of a BSE outbreak, and is adjusting its quarantine policies to allow the importation of beef from BSE-affected countries.
In a joint statement to the media today Agriculture Minister Tony Burke, Trade Minister Simon Crean and Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the changes followed a review of current settings and would come into effect from 1 March, 2010.
Under existing Government policy, beef is unable to be imported from countries where bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or more commonly known as mad cow disease) is present.
And in the event of an outbreak within Australia, all beef would be removed from supermarket shelves to minimise the risk of transmission to humans.
However, the review undertaken by Professor John Mathews has concluded that the risk to human health from imported beef "remains extremely low, provided the appropriate risk mitigation strategies are put in place".
"We have no intention of compromising our food standards," the joint Ministerial statement says.
"The new arrangements will not affect the Australian food standard which requires that beef and beef products be derived from animals free of BSE.
"This standard will not change and current enforcement measures will continue to apply."
The Government says that since the BSE scares earlier this decade, there have been significant advances in knowledge and changes in practice in managing beef herds and food production.
"This has allowed countries to trade beef and beef products safely," the Ministers said.
"The independent review of the scientific evidence, mentioned above, indicates that it is possible to import beef from countries that have reported cases of BSE and maintain a high level of protection for the Australian public, provided the appropriate risk management mechanisms are put in place.
"The new policy provides a better outcome for both our domestic and export industry allowing a more sensible risk-based regional response to be made."
The Government said the change would not affect Australia’s animal health status which is recognised by the World Organisation for Animal Health as being in the most favourable category of "negligible risk", and would not diminish Australia’s ability to export beef to the world.
It also said Australia’s peak national beef organisations including the Red Meat Advisory Council, which includes the Australian Meat Industry Council, Cattle Council of Australia and the Australian Lot Feeders’ Association, have indicated their support for updating the BSE policy.
A number of countries have requested access to Australia’s beef market, which the Government said would now be required to undergo a rigorous risk assessment led by Food Standards Australia New Zealand to ensure they have robust systems in place to prevent the BSE agent from entering the human food chain.
Professor John Mathews is an eminent scientist with 40 years’ experience as an epidemiological researcher. His review was peer reviewed and supported by expert scientists under the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee.
Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jim Bishop, was also consulted.
* A copy of the independent review can be downloaded at www.health.gov.au.
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