USDA Finalizes the Rule of BSE Import Regulation

On November 1st,  the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced a final rule that will modernize the Agency’s import regulations for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).  Once this rule has taken effect, APHIS will use the same criteria and categories that the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) uses to identify a country’s BSE risk status. 

This action will be published in the Federal Register very soon and the rule will become effective 90 days after publication.

Click here to read the USDA press release. 

Written by Joseph Negaard - Research Assistant

The Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center

@PSUAgLawCenter

November 5, 2013

OIE Upgrades the U.S. BSE Risk Classification to "Negligible"

On May 29, 2013, the world animal health body (OIE), upgraded the U.S. risk classification for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) from “controlled risk” to “negligible risk.” According to the United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the cattle industry has been working to restore the perception of U.S. beef since the discovery of a BSE-positive cow in Washington State in 2003. He credits the implementation of a “system of interlocking safeguards” to keep BSE-infected cattle out of the food supply for the achievement of the upgraded risk status.

The OIE requires that a country must participate in the OIE procedure for the official recognition of disease status to change its risk classification.

For more information, please see the OIE’s website, and its Terrestrial Animal Health Code, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.

Written By Sarah Doyle - Research Assistant

Penn State Law- Agricultural Law Center

June 3, 2013