The Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW) has welcomed the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Scientific Commission recommendation.
This recommendation will recognise Scotland as an area of negligible risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease.
The OIE World Assembly will consider the Scientific Commission’s recommendation in May.
Allan Jess, SAMW president, said: “This is the highest recommendation which is available to any country, establishing a disease-free status which was first requested through a detailed paper setting out the case for change which SAMW submitted, and other Scottish meat and livestock organisations supported, to the Scottish Government in February 2016.
“Our initiative was the beginning of a process which is now set to deliver many major benefits for everyone involved in Scotland’s livestock and meat industry.
“The OIE breakthrough which has now been secured is fully justified by the fact that the last confirmed BSE case in Scotland involved an animal born in 2002.”
Jess explained that there are potential benefits to the Scottish industry after being elevated to ‘negligible risk’ status.
These benefits will include: a reputational gain from a disease-free image; removal of obstacles when negotiating access to new markets; and easier access to markets where some trade already exists.
Jess also outlined that there will be a trading advantage over competitors from ‘controlled risk’ countries, and an equal trading status with others ‘negligible risk’ countries.
As well as this, there will also be a removal of costly and unnecessary specified risk material (SRM) procedures and a reduction of SRM disposal costs.
The potential for new product opportunities and better returns for other links in the supply change are also more likely.
Jess concluded: “We applaud the work done by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, Fergus Ewing, and his officials, in advancing and pursuing the ‘negligible risk’ case on the industry’s behalf and look forward to being free to trade under our new status by as early as the summer.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
