Central European Countries to Harmonize Measures Against Mad Cow DiseaseAgriculture ministers from the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) countries agreed Thursday to harmonize measures to prevent mad cow disease from entering their countries.After the meeting, the seven-member CEFTA countries' ministers issued a joint statement, stating that although no case of bolive spongigoform encephalopathy (BSE) has been found in their countries, they need to join hands in combating mad cow disease. The meeting is being held on the initiative of the Czech Agriculture Minister Jan Fencl. The statement said CEFTA countries will ban the feeding of ruminants with meat and bone meal, prevent beef and cattle import from BSE affected countries, and intensify the test of high risk animals to restore consumer confidence. The ministers also called for the European Union to provide all information about BSE. Mad cow disease, or BSE, which first popped up in Britain in the early 1980s, has been linked to a fatal human variation known as the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which has killed 80 people in Britain and two in France. CEFTA was established in 1992, and its current members include Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. |
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