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Cattle over 30 months of age will be allowed back in the
food chain next year, as Great Britain substitutes a "robust"
bovine spongiform encephalopathy testing regime for its
"Over Thirty Month" rule. British farmers cheered the news.
The governmental Food Standards Agency told the BBC that
in light of the huge drop in incidence of BSE in Britain,
where positive results have fallen from 124.4 per 10,000
animals tested in 2001 to 6.49 per 10,000 tested so far
this year, the reintroduction of older cattle was justified.
Sir John Krebs, chairman of the FSA, said that nothing would
change until the FSA was assured that all cattle born on
or after Aug. 1, 1996, would be tested rigorously for the
disease. "The final switch-over will not happen until the
FSA has been advised that the testing system is robust,"
he said.
Margaret Beckett, environment secretary, said that she would
consult with the European Union to ensure that such cattle
could be exported as soon as possible. She estimated that
shipments could resume by late next year. An official with
the EU called Britain's move "appropriate" given the decline
in new cases of BSE.
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