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EU Official Criticizes Germany' Control on BSE
Germany's control on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was too loose, a senior EU official said.
EU Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Byrne asked other EU nations to be "more cautious at the beef exported from Germany, " German newspaper "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" reported Saturday.
It was the "minimum" to avoid "more severe decisions" on German beef at the EU level, Byrne said in a letter sent to German Agriculture Minister Renate Kuenast, referring to a general export ban, which Britain was encountered for years.
Remains of spinal cord, which was considered a high risk of carrying BSE and banned under EU laws from last October, was found twice in the last two months in Britain and Ireland in beef products exported from Germany.
Byrne asked the German authorities to step up any efforts on their controls, ensuring that legislation, which prohibits spinal cord in beef, is respected, according to the report.
At least the license of the responsible slaughterhouse should be revoked, and the related officials "be asked to explain," the commissioner said.
More than 80 people in Britain and two in France have already died of the human form of BSE, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fatal brain disorder believed to be caused by eating infected beef.
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