14 May 2004 08:48
RUSSIA TO BAN CATTLE FROM `MAD-COW` COUNTRIES MAY 17
MOSCOW. May 14 (Interfax) - Russia's veterinary service will impose a ban on the import of live cattle from
countries where bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, causes 'mad cow disease') has been detected effective
May 17.
Acting deputy head of the Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight Service Yevgeny Nepoklonov told Interfax
this step is being taken in light of the continued spread of BSE and the threat it could arrive in Russia, an importer
of pedigree livestock.
Canada and the United States joined the list of countries with
identified BSE cases in 2003, bringing it to 24. Only Sweden is
Nepoklonov said an analysis of the BSE situation in Europe indicates that even though enormous effort has been made
to prevent its spread from country to country and the heightened attention paid to stopping it by European veterinary
authorities, it has not been successful. This, he added, is evidence of high risk run when a BSE-free country imports
animals from another where it has been registered.
unaffected in the European Union.
"All of this allows one to say that the measures taken against BSE are not effective enough. It's possible
this is linked with other means by which the disease is spread or insufficient methods to diagnose it early,"
Nepoklonov said.
The first BSE case was registered in Britain in 1986. Since then, the disease has hit a total of 178,000 animals in
Britain and has forced the country to slaughter 3.7 million animals. In recent years, BSE has spread to other European
countries and to Asian countries. Altogether 180,000 BSE cases have been recorded.
Scientists warn that humans risk contracting the incurable Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease by eating BSE-infected meat,
which has claimed more than 100 lives, mainly in Britain.
Russia imported 5,163 head of cattle in 2003 against 10,763 in 2002 and 9,377 in 2001, according to the Federal
Customs Statistics Service. Exports of cattle exceeded imports in 2003 at 10,837, against 6,005 in 2002.
Agrarian Market Affairs Institute (IKAR) data indicates imports of pedigree livestock significantly outstrips
exports, on the other hand. The country imported 6,729 head in 2003, but exported only 50 (to Kazakhstan).
[Interfax] |
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