8:00am Thursday 8th January 2009
The rules on testing cattle for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopa-thy (BSE)changed from on January 1st.
The age threshold for testing all cattle has been raised to 48 months and over, instead of 30 for animals intended for human consumption and 24 months for fallen stock.
The change in European regulations has been agreed by the Food Standards Agency and the Health Minister.
This change will apply to all cattle in the UK or other EU15 Member States. Reduced surveillance coincides with the end of free collection and disposal for farmers notifying fallen stock for BSE testing.
From January 12th, producers will have to make arrangements for disposal of surveillance fallen stock through an approved BSE sampling site. The UK Government will continue to pay for sampling and testing costs.
To help the industry, £2m has been made available to the National Fallen Stock Company to subsidise disposal in the first year after the changes.
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