Rural Delivery: Mad-cow fears spread veil of public mistrust

By MICK CALDER*

Food safety is now a global issue for meat producers because of mad-cow disease (BSE).

It has escalated consumer fears to an extent that even countries that claim to be free from the disease have been affected.

And foot-and-mouth disease, despite not infecting humans, will only add to the general food integrity concerns of consumers. Both have global trade implications as countries act to limit the effects.

In the United States, a 60 Minutes segment on the effects of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, BSE's human equivalent, has been described as 15 minutes from hell for viewers. Regaining consumer confidence will now be doubly difficult.

The disease has an extended incubation period, which makes it hard to know the extent of the problem.

As Steve Bjerklie noted in Meat News: "Consumer concerns with beef safety are justified. What could be scarier than a disease that lies dormant in your body for years and years, then awakes to eat your brain full of holes?"

The BSE problem started in Britain in 1986, but its cause and seriousness were not recognised for some time. It has since appeared in other countries by way of exports of contaminated meat and bone meal that were banned in Britain.

Up to 200,000 tonnes of contaminated feed may have been exported to some 70 countries, mainly in the Middle East and Asia, until the trade was banned in 1996. It was to be used as pig and poultry feed but may have been included in cattle feeds.

There are reports of BSE in Thailand. Some of the corrupted meal was discovered in Texas, and the affected herd was destroyed, despite showing no sign of the disease.

Consumer concerns are plainly evident. Franz Fischler, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, recently reported a 27 per cent drop in beef consumption in the EU and a similar drop in beef prices. Interest is switching to organic beef or other meats, including lamb and ostrich meat, or from meat altogether.

Unaffected countries, including New Zealand, have imposed bans on beef products from a number of European countries where BSE has been reported. Other countries will be under suspicion.

The bans have caused production backlogs that have carried over into this year. A production surplus of some 800,000 tonnes is likely and efforts are being made to alleviate the pressure.

A Purchase for Destruction scheme operates in some parts of Europe to reduce supply pressure and provide farmers with some income, but other measures will be necessary.

Unfortunately, one European answer is public intervention whereby the meat is frozen and put in cold storage. This postpones the supply problem, puts pressure on the market as stocks build, and leads to the temptation of subsidised exports of these intervention stocks.

Trade problems are beginning to surface in other regions such as the Middle East, Asia and Africa as importers seek alternative supplies.

The foot-and-mouth outbreak adds to these problems. Japan joined the US and Canada recently in halting all EU meat and dairy imports.

So far, New Zealand, Australia, the US and Canada are free from the diseases and have escaped these export-restricting measures. Our major export beef markets in North America are still open.

But North American consumers are alert to the scares in other countries and asking more questions about the origin of their beef. Further scares could profoundly affect the established patterns of demand and trade, and not only for beef.

We need to be continually alert to the dangers and take every action to ensure our disease-free status to be able to reassure our customers.

* Mick Calder is a company manager, agribusiness consultant and freelance writer