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The ban on importation of meat and bone meal (MBM) feeds from
Australia has been lifted by the Department of Agriculture after
international veterinary authorities have certified that such
products are now free of the mad cow disease.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap signed a
memorandum explaining that the lifting of the ban is based on a
resolution adopted by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE)
or Animal Health Organization’s Terrestrial Code, recognizing
Australia as one of its member-countries free of the mad cow disease
or “Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy” (BSE).
BSE is a transmissible, neurodegenerative, fatal
brain disease of cattle, which has a long incubation period of four
to five years, but is ultimately fatal for the cattle within weeks
to months of its onset.
In lifting the ban, Yap noted that meat and bone
meal, and other inedible products are regulated and verified by the
Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, and are processed
under the Australian Standard for Hygienic Rendering of Animal
Products.
“The Australian Standard used in Australian
MBM, meat meal, bone meal, blood meal, feather meal, poultry meal,
poultry by-product meal, tallow, poultry oil, and fish meal
production is designed to eliminate pathogens relevant to Australia
and prevent re-contamination of process-rendered products,” Yap
said.
-- Ira Karen Apanay
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