Food Law News - FAO/WHO/WTO/Codex - 2001


WHO Press Release (WHO/28), 14 June 2001

BSE - Joint WHO/FAO/OIE Technical Consultation on BSE: Public Health, Animal Health and Trade

BSE/vCJD disease should be considered as an international issue as potentially infected BSE materials have been ditsributed throughout the world through trade of live cattle, certain cattle products and by-products. All countries are urged to evaluate their potential exposure and should take necessary actions, according to the recommendations of the four-day technical consultation which ended today.

It was a joint meeting on Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE). The conference was a major step towards strengthening their efforts and speak with one voice about the risks associated with BSE and vCJD (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease).

More than 150 veterinarians, food safety experts and health officials called upon governments to consider the ban the feeding of meat and bone meal (MBM) to ruminants and to put in place surveillance and testing.

The consultation adopted the following main recommendations:


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