BSE sampling cost transfer to farming industry: consultation

Purpose of the consultation

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies ( TSEs) are fatal brain diseases that include Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ( BSE) in cattle and scrapie in sheep and goats. Exposure to BSE through the consumption of infected or contaminated meat is believed to be the primary cause of variant Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease ( vCJD) in humans. The European Food Safety Authority ( EFSA) has advised that BSE is the only animal TSE that has been shown to be a risk to human health.

There are two forms of BSE: classical BSE, which is believed to be transmitted due to cattle eating contaminated feed primarily through deliberate or accidental inclusion of infective meat and bone meal; and atypical BSE, which is regarded by the World Organisation for Animal Health ( OIE) as a condition believed to occur spontaneously in all cattle populations at a very low rate.

Regulation ( EC) No. 999/2001 of the European Parliament and the Council, as amended (the EU TSE Regulation) lays down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of TSEs, including BSE in cattle and scrapie in sheep and goats. The government seeks to implement TSE controls, in line with EU requirements, and in the interest of public health and animal health protection. The current domestic TSE legislation in Scotland is the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (Scotland) Regulations 2010.