I see with interest that the '20 year' ban on imported beef, from countries that had comfirmed cases of BSE, is about to be lifted and, these counties will once again export 'chep meats' to our shores.

Now most, if not all of this meat will be in frozen form and used to produce pies, burgers, sausages etc.

Do you place your trust in the authorities of these countries to 'do the right thing' and police the processing standards?

Remember, Australia has one of the toughest processing standards in the world, mainly due to the fact that we export in excess of 85% of what we produce. In contrast, the Us exports about 10% of what they produce but they don't have to and, their 10% (in volume) is far more than our 85%.

Lifting a ban on imported meat would be a seriously bad idea.

The animal diseases that we are lucky enough to not have in Australia enjoy chronic low incidence in all other continents. If a flare-up occurs in any of them, it will be apparant after material has been shipped. It may ship even if there is no flare-up.

All other meat exporting nations are aware of the advantage to our meat industry of not fighting these diseases. They don't care except to the degree a limited financial penalty might be applied. Such penalty will not reflect the permanent and onging cost to australian industry, and may be unenforceable.

Such penalty will not serve to make their exporters vigilant on our behalf. Not without fail.

If we don't trust them, we shouldn't do it.

If we do trust them but think they could make a mistake, we shouldn't do it.

If we think their insurance (or government) will not cover the costs to Australia (for, say, the subsequent twenty years) in event of a contamination getting through, we shouldn't do it.

If their insurance (or government) does not explicitly cover malicious contamination (terrorism), we should not do it.

How cheap does meat need to be to justify both the risk that meat might become *anything but* cheap, plus the cost of cleaning up an outbreak?

BSE in Britain was a disaster. Foot and mouth the same. After major outbreaks, the affected nation is usually dependent on clean imported meat. In our case that means more of the problem, and a guarantee of price gouging.

Rusty.

rehctub,

I posted twice on this issue in the thread on Australian Industry, but maybe you did not see my comments. Rather than re-post, here is the link if you are interested. I gave several reasons for opposing this decision by the federal government:

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=3436&page=5

Even if the importation of meat is allowed it is very, very poor of the government not to agree to public demand that the meat and products containing it be clearly labelled to show that it is imported meat.

Here is an interesting problem though, how will the Blood Bank react? Didn't the Blood Bank refuse blood from Australians who visited countries where Mad Cow disease was discovered? Should the blood of all red meat consumers be refused from here on?

It is insane that the federal government has given away out clean meat label for zilch.

Old foot soldier Belly at it again.
I however am a bit confused over who I soldier for on this issue.
It may be the salvation army?
John Howard, no do not condemn-the bloke for every thing, bought in the American free trade agreement.
Unloved by some, it always would be, it opened up markets for our farmers and did not do for some, say Lamb into America.
2010 was the year this free trade was to allowe imports from America,,, of beef and meat products.
Before the ban we imported such meat, it amounted to half of one percent of meat eaten in Australia.
Free trade/world trade what do we do if we do not take part in it?
Are we sure their are health risks.
Do many understand the ban on blood donations is from those who lived in affected county's while the outbreak was happening?
Not today? or even the last ten years?
And how many of us know restrictions are going to make it impossible for ANY meat to arrive before next year.
Butcher is it in any way going to cost you sales.
Can you put your hand on your heart and say you have true concerns disease may come via it?
Can Australia set up a barrier to free trade but still insist on farming products being the world wide back bone to free trade one day.
A medical story in news now tells of mums and dads refusing to inoculate kids.
Because of what looks like clear fraud, we must be careful in getting away from true.
Shoulder arms [ sorry tambourines ]

It will not be cheap meat in the supermarkets and products using it will not be cheaper.

However it will result in more meatworks closing in Australia, which affects country towns.

Regarding any health problems in the exporting country, I am sure we will be the last to know and the audit trail will be near non-existent.

Belly, thanks for the potted history.

Has anyone stopped to think that there might be sound legal and trade ramifications for maintaining the ban?

Maintaining a ban when it is clear that the reason the ban was implemented has passed is a violation of the WTO accord, and opens Aus meat products to a retaliatory ban from the EU and America.

Considering that Aus exports 85% of the meat and imports very little, and the meat here is cheaper than most other countries who might have small surpluses, Australia stands to lose the most by a tightening of trade conditions.

Shadow Minister: "Has anyone stopped to think that there might be sound legal and trade ramifications for maintaining the ban?"

Certainly not me. I don't think about these things that deeply. I am however very suspicious of trade restrictions of any sort. If we let the beef industry hide behind trade restrictions, it is entirely possible without the competition they will become fat and inefficient. Just like say, New Zealands lamb did when they ran a protectionist regime, or Australian Wool when they hid behind the AWB.

The reasons trotted out by Rusty are typical of those arguing for protection. I don't know if they are real or not. He would help his case considerably if he cited examples of when imported meats have caused problems in the past.

Shadow Minister

You failed to mention the indirect subsidies available to primary producers in the US and elsewhere.

You also appear naive about the myriad of ways the US puts indirect trade embargoes and restrictions on our exports. An example could be the mountain of paperwork to export wine to the US (to protect against terrorism, what a joke!).

Other examples could be the array of expensive USDA requirements (and frequent changes) for imported beef that don't apply to their home produced or processed meat.

rstuart
Australian wine producers are not subsidised but US wine growers are - yet Oz wine is still cheaper in US supermarkets. So much for fat and lazy Aussie primary industry.

I reckon our PMs are too easily seduced by the US State Department. John Howard and others before him have gone quite weak at the knees after being dined and feted and allowed a photo shoot with Dubya Bush or others.

Cornflower: "So much for fat and lazy Aussie primary industry."

Are you saying our primary industry is fat and lazy? If so, I must be wrong, because I thought the lack of import protections kept it lean and mean.

rstuart

What I was endeavouring to prove and it hasn't been refuted so far is that other countries may have indirect subsidies in place.

It isn't necessarily a level playing field.

Shadow minister is quite right take note of his post it may be one we have reason to remember.
And remember what if Australia has an out break of blue tongue?
Foot and mouth?
Can any reasonable person not know we will, only when is unknown.
We then will want our exports back on world markets won't we?
The bleating is from minority's, not all farmers would be happy to kill the free trade agreement.
What is its over all impact?
Well remember it is one half of one percent of total meat used in this country.
Most surely apart from pork is in food production not meat markets.
So flood the market it will not.
Disease? seen border protection? the documentary series it shows every episode people trying to bring plants and meat ,smuggle it, past customs, getting fined nothing or warned.
Far more danger exists here than imported meat from country's that have stopped feeding animal waste to animals bring this illness into being.
We risk trade barriers, we risk our future after we are no longer a clean country and for what?
Come who truly thinks we risk mad cow by bringing it in.
Tony Abbott bloke you are no leader you say no to so much you would agree to if you ever got Rudd's job, I do not value your honesty you have none.

Australian primary producers [farmers and graziers] far from happy if the ban is lifted for various reasons. Also, any playing around with the risks of potential Bovine Spongiencephalitis in meats from a country who had or still has the disease lying dormant is idiotic behaviour.

"We risk trade barriers"

There always were trade barriers and there always will be. The US is a known, persistent poor performer insofar as indirect trade barriers are concerned.

Australia has a valid reason for rejecting meat from countries that have experienced BSE.

No-one has agreed that any imported meat should be so labelled, including where it is used in other products. Not surprising really, who would opt for the imported pattie from Mackas?

As far as the Red Cross is concerned, it reckons that 50 years is a suitable time to ban prospective blood donors who were in the UK during the Mad Cow epidemic, but who have since shown no clinical signs of the disorder. Why is that?

Tony Abbott bloke you are no leader you say no to so much you would agree to if you ever got Rudd's job, I do not value your honesty you have none.

Well that's the pot calling the kettle black! I suggest you look inside your own leaders bag of lies before you go off accusing others.

Must take my hat off to you though, you never fail to sink the boot and put in a plug for Ruddy, do you! Always turning every thread into an attack on TA, while singing the praises of your might Krudd.

If you were not so 'brain washed' you may realise that Rudd, is a dudd! Must be something about the unions I think!

Now back on toppic
As for labelling, we already have p[roducts sold as 'made from local and imported ingredients'. I doubt this will change.

As for importing beef. I think every single shipment should be tested and cleared prior to leaving the country of origin.

I will bet the big 'M' will be rubbing their hands together.

Tested? How?

The USDA has never experienced any quirks of conscience for insisting on requirements that affect the whole of our stock, even before they reach the meatworks.

Likewise they have sent their own inspectors to enforce petty but costly requirements intended as trade embargoes concerning (say) the cladding of freezer walls.

Our politicians are innocents abroad and I think you might find that any question or contrary advice from our own scientists and primary industries departments, State and federal, is quashed without seeing daylight. Must be some good scotch and hanky panky available in overseas destinations.

Carrying coals to Newcastle is the m.o. of free(&@#$#) trade. I was talking to a butcher friend of mine recently about the importation of be(BSE)ef, and he pointed out that regional abattoirs, which used to provide local meat for local people, are being close because all the beasts are sent to the larger abattoirs and then packaged for export. Now if the result of this is a meat shortage in Australia, surely the sensible thing to do would be to keep it ourselves. I know all about the Australian-US FTA where American beef is sacrosanct, and the big bucks to be made from the Japanese market, but if our health is to be put in peril from cheap OS meat, then surely someone as educated as Tony Burke should be able to see that it is a bad move.
Anyhow, all this coal to Newcastle is contributing some huge percentage, I can't remember if it is 30% or 60%, of total carbon dioxide emissions (see Ann Pettifor(ed), real world economic outlook..(2003)) and oranges from Brazil, and beef from America make no sense when we can do it all here. Sheer madenss, but what's new.

Free Trade, even that awful bloke Simon Crean understands we need it, more than most.
This is more than lifting a ban.
It comes as a result of our free trade agreement with America.
This is the year such trade barriers are to be dropped.
One half of one percent, you can not turn that into a flood, it will not have much impact on the market.
Speak to a butcher here ,if you wish, rechtub is one, however in matters of international trade you can get better advice.
If we block a deal we signed, we can face great trade barriers, not just the Lamb to America one but even total farm products.
The potential for importing mad cow?
None.
We one day WILL get such an illness, maybe not this one but another, and it will be our farmers, screaming for a fair go, begging to again be able to export beef and maybe much more.
And PLEASE balance, not one farmer none, will not sell his beef, will get reduced payments if we agree to do what we said we would in this trade agreement.
Last oh boy how it fails to impress me,the idea our leaders industry and political are idiots.
The thought individuals know and only they, that we have been hood winked.
Both sides of Parliament now Rudd is agreeing to this deal said this is the year we do it, it will in fact be next but we have far better judges of what is good for us in the house than the henny Penny's here.

Cornflower
Our meat industry (export) is at the mercy of the buyers as we have no option other than to export all but 15 odd % of what we produce.

This is why we have to meet such strict guidlines, because our customers don't have to buy our beef. We are just lucky we have such clean meat.

Perhaps Belly is right. We may be caught between a rock and a hard place. If we say no, we stand to loose far more than we stand to gain.

I think the answer may well lie in the 'labelling' of imported meats, whereby consumers are well informed of what they are buying and, any manufaturer using imported meats must meet the labelling criteria in order to use/sell this product.

Perhaps there should be a law against the blending of local and imported goods in all food manufacturing, other than herbs and spices, as one must admit, it's a bit of a con this old 'made from local and imported ingredients' stuff.

Bacon and ham are fine examples with approx 90% of all bacon sold here being made from imported pork.

What is bad in this case is the fact that the large bloated supermarket chains, alrady weighed down by massive profits, increasing daily, will buy the meat from those overseas sources at 50-60 cents a kilo but present the samer food for sale at $14 a kilo. That's what is wrong with any system that allows for this kind of market manipulation which is commonplace in 2010 with no controls on such activities from any government source or consumer organisation.
As for local lamb, the less said the better. Ask the farmers what Woolworths pay for lambs and try and see any natural correltion between that price and what they gouge from those comnsumers who still think that the big supermarkets are cheap. They aren't.
My objection to this possible new action is the identification of the product source and the supermarket gouging that will follow as sure as night follows day. They can't help themselves and governments don't give a damn

Hey Belly, read How to Kill a Country: Australia's Devastating Trade deal with the United States...FTAs are a mechanism for rich and powerful countries like the US to manipulate smaller countries like ours into selling cheap and buying dear, I'd post my analysis of the FTA but it's about 8,000 words too long. as for the wisdom of our political and business leaders, your comment is risible.

John DG,

"Australia's Devastating Trade deal with the United States"

From where I'm standing Australia's economy looks far from devastated. To be frank, neither is Canada's or Mexico's.

After the FTA with the EU South Africa's economy grew at a "devastating" 9% p.a. eclipsing even China.

Perhaps you could back up your statement that the US is getting Aus to sell cheap and buy dear, (substantial quantities)

I would guess that you are one of the anti globalisation supporters?

First John dg then rexw
John it is you who jest, have no understanding of the issue, and why did you not address the henny penny syndrome? that we could import mad cow?
Rexw do you think America or any country likely to sell here can produce beef and sell it at 50 cent a kg?
History of such trade is clear, we sell Americans beef cheaper than they can produce it, for other uses, like hamburger meat.
Northern NSW started the trade with cracker dairy cows.
Remember trade is based on both sides excepting the product and the price.
I get no joy out of this, but we will get blue tongue or something like it.
It will affect our trade, it may well kill all meat exports for a generation, maybe even forever, we sell on our clean record.
Just today I heard about a lady from another country ,returning to her home here, telling her neighbors to watch out for small black cock Roach's.
They came back with her, she found them in her packing and says, wait for it, you just can never get rid of them once you have them!
Pork is about to be marked ,to say it is Australian grown, much better but dearer see most has been imported for a long while.

I believe our dreaded blue tongue or such will not come via imported meat.
It may come via imported animals, remember cost savings bought equine flue here, that and people not doing their jobs.
However the odds very much are it will come via northern borders of the NT, QLD;d, or WA
It could come through customs, that show I mentioned frightens me.
Once it comes and it will we will be devastated farmer , the few blindly complain now, will beg for forgiveness and a return to exporting.
Lets keep our cool, think it through.
If I had my way, after this country's meat exports hits this brick wall, I would make that the time to get rid of badly bread cattle in this country upgrade the quality and productivity of our herd.
Love a good house cow but here and in many more places people are breeding Jersey and Guernsey with beef bulls and worse just because sale yards sell calves like that cheap weekend warriors buy and continue to breed.
If you are about yabby ,its true city farmer wanted a splayed Bull to put over his 18 splayed heifers here.

Correct JohnDG you know our Aussie economics. The US and China doing extremely well out of our FTAs from the 'outset' to date. They wont be getting their hands on some graziers finest micron wool though. Should originally been termed 'The Non-Fair Trade Agreement'; each one bathed in false promises.

From say 1950 to now world trade has changed.
We once sold to England and that was about it.
We now export to the world, Australia fights trade barriers harder than most and as hard as any country.
While this thread is about a disease and meat imports it has rightly considered loss of trade,, if we do not undertake things we said we would this year under a trade deal.
We export far more than farm products, and if we could not?
This country without world trade would forever be third world.
True free world trade,, if we ever got it, would be a real force for good,, poorer country's may need help still but as we traded and became more interdependent just maybe we could live better together.
Australia wants such trade, barriers are being put up here by a few, but those few would never want to threaten our trade would they?
Some a few greens supporters among them, henny penny on health issues, without understanding make claims that are wild and unfounded.
We will not import mad cow, we hopefully will never feed animal products to cattle.
But we will get such an illness in time and cry foul when it hurts our trade.

We have already had cases of mad cow disease in this country of course, but these were contracted by people eating meat products produced from other countries, and the victims emigrated here before showing signs of the disease.
Or they were Aussies who spent some time overseas.

I have only ever nursed two cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease here in my career.
Both people suffered immeasurably.

First they started losing their memory,
then they forgot how to attend to their usual activities of daily living,
then they started losing all their bodily functions,
then they became demented and bedridden,
then they started having incredible head pain,
coma and death.
All this takes about a year from go to whoa.

No thanks! I don't eat beef any more. And I am horrified that we would even consider imported beef products when we have plenty of our own beef grown here.

Lifting the Imported Meats Ban is a case for
concern.

The Australian Beef Association according to
several websites has said that -" the expected increase
in imports couldn't come at a worse time."
Apparently beef prices are at their lowest
since the 1974-78 cattle depression.

Three abattoirs have closed in recent weeks,
with the loss of 540 jobs.

We're also told that because the Aussie dollar is
strong, "there's likely to be a flood of processed
food including pies, sausage rolls and beef jerky,
which will be sold bearing an Aussie flag."

It seems that it only has to be "substantially
transformed," (whatever that means) here,
to be labelled, "Made in Australia."

And that's not even tackling all the health risks
involved in the lifting of this ban.

As one website indicated - this was a "sell out of
Australian farmers, Australian consumers,
and Australian jobs!"

Foxy,

Meat pie:
Pastry or packaging - Oz
Everything else - O'seas.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is the governmental body responsible for developing food standards for Australia and New Zealand. If you read Choice's (Australian Consumers' Association) break-down of what is allowed in a pie (eg snouts, ears, udders, lots of heart and blood and dollops of fat) you would never eat one again. It doesn't have to come from cattle, pigs or sheep either. The same applies to other products made from processed meat.

You can only wonder what absolute rubbish from overseas abattoirs will be tipped into pies, sausage rolls and whatever. Hands up those who think they will get value for money and the prices will drop. None showing I trust.

You might be better off shopping with the pensioners (poor buggers) and taking some tinned cat food home.

Dear Cornflower,

Scares the living daylights out of me!

My husband loves meat pies!

Farmers are reeling from long periods of drought and
competition from the live export trade.
It couldn't have come at a worse time.

And what's worse I read on one of the websites that
the Red Meat Advisory Council and Livestock Australia
are believed to be "on side."

Apparently they've signed "confidentiality agreements."
So what's really going on? And who does it benefit?
Large corporations?

Foxy

I reckon that the meat industry could be playing with fire if consumers really get onto this one. Already many people are turning away from red meats through excessive prices and poor quality.

We eat a lot of chicken and seafood and more of our preferred main meals don't have meat. Not becoming vegetarian but it is easy to lose the taste for red meat.

Mad cow came about by farmers feeding sick cattle to...cows as processed food.
No current out break is active in any country.
No meat from any country with live infection can ever come to Australia.
The practice that bought this illness into being has stopped.
No person to person transmission is taking place now, blood transfusions may have been the only way/
Australian farmers, I have owned cattle, burn and hide sick cattle ,many times I have heard of and seen farmers who thought their heard had black leg fever burn dead ones and say nothing.
If we import blue tongue via NT some will hide it not report it until it spreads far more than it should.
Those killing export houses please, they opened to export for profit.
While our dollar was low.
They closed because the dollar rose.
Noway farmers claim other than fear of illness never competition for banning this meat.
half of one percent is nothing.
not one hamburger filler will come before next year at the earliest.
We may be banned from exporting ourselves by then, only time separate us from our infection day, it however will not be mad cow.

Belly is correct,

No meat is imported from a country with any infections within the last year. And none of the meat is from cattle that could have been exposed (never fed bone meal), and none of the meat contains nerve tissue in which the disease is transmitted.

The risk of BSE in the imported meat is infinitesimal. The histrionics over eating pies is not supported by logic.

rexw; As belly says, you really need to get your facts right before you go off quoting stuff like that. Freight and handling costs alone would be around 50c kilo, or more.

Foxy; Apparently beef prices are at their lowest
since the 1974-78 cattle depression.

Not true, mid 1990's jap ox steers bottomed out at 49c kilo in Victoria. That was the low point.

Three abattoirs have closed in recent weeks,
with the loss of 540 jobs.

Now if you are referring to the QLD abbs, these were domestic, not export. They closed due to lack of cattle (our overall heard is about 8 million short), which will take about 2 to 3 years to rebuild, and productions costs are to high.

>>>"Made in Australia."
This is a joke, made in AU from local and imported ingredients.

Cornflower; (eg snouts, ears, udders, lots of heart and blood and dollops of fat)

That is overstated. Any of these ingredients must be listed. As a butcher it is illegal for me to sell mince that contains ofals of any kind.

Also, another gey area in labelling is meat pies are usually only tested for 'meat content' and, only those labeled as 'meat pies'. Anything else, eg; mushroom, pie with peas, or even steak pie all slip under the radar as they are not considered as a 'meat pie' for some wierd reason.

The only regulation for a 'meat pie' is that it contains 28% meat and even that is a 'grey area' and one that is often confusing, even to the field officers who test pies.

Off track, but did you know that a baker makes approx 28 pies from one kilo of meat which he pays around $5.50 for, adds pastry at 7 cents per pie, then sells the lot for around $106.00. That's about a 1400% markup. And you think steak from the butcher or supermarket is expensive!

Continued
Belly; Mad cow came about by farmers feeding sick cattle to...cows as processed food.

I think you will find it was from 'meat meal' made from 'sheep products' rather than cattle. Meat meal was commonly used in stock food production, even here in AU.

You are right in saying that any outbreak will be hidden, as farmers are devistated on suspiscion of and outbreak and, they are not compensated to my knowledge. Perhaps a better approach would be to compensate those who come forward and penilise those who don't.

Dear rehctub,

You might be interested in taking a look
at the following website:

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-threat-to-Aussie-steak/

Its an article by Tracey Spicer, 23 Feb. 2010.

Scroll all the way down - her article is way down
the bottom of the page - but it's where I got my
info. from.

Not surprised Foxy; as honestly knew it all first hand.

Why waste all of our tax dollars implementing defence systems over the past 30 years with all of the 12-14 hour work days done by public servants [believe it or not in the old days where one never got paid for putting all the time and effort into 12-14 hour days] for government to allow importation placing us at risk.

Q: To Politicians [as opposed to public servants btw]: big difference.

How do you propose [after the Equine Influenza outbreak and costs] while our economy is in 300billion deficit; to compensate Australians regarding our health and our trade consequences AFTER you have given into the pressure of lifting the long term greatly opposed ban of UK BSE Beef products. What follows next: the flaming milk and dairy products? Come on. Where is your commonsense?

Remain strong Senator Heffernan and keep the pressure up until the greedy politicians see sense and realise that the importation of high risk products will set Australia behind another 30years.

rechtub we are not far apart this issue.
But it clearly is my understanding dead cattle ,with mad cow, went in to that meat meal.
As a young kid I first on being sent to Sydney, worked recycling butchers waste, bones fat, and a lot of free meat pies, one sold meat to them we ate the left overs.
Meat meal plants, we have many send it all up the shoot into the grinders together.
And such waste as you know has value.
Yes farmers do hide the truth, some of them[having worked for some] are as miserable with a cent as you can believe.
Some, most are the salt of the earth honest and true you can not find better.
But three generations breed those cattle, if diary maybe more, they know every one.
See in each one a lifetime of commitment to heard improvement.
That more than anything makes them fear telling anyone, but tell they must.
I ask that posters truly look at the almost non existent danger, none in my view then consider the damage to our trade if we block it.
Australia can best fight American using trade self protection tactics by being honest on this issue.

Of course we can't trust other countries to conform to the standards. Recent testing has shown that imported olive oil certainly does not meet standards. A quote from ABC's Landline program:

"There's one oil that we've found that's been very bad it's contained both canola oil, refined oil and also what we call pomace oil. Pomace oil is the waste product which is extracted from the olives after the oil's been extracted, so this is pretty bad quality product."

Story here: http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2010/s2825830.htm

China is known for it's shadow industry 'technique' to appear to meet export standards.

Suze, Rusty Catheter and Cornflower echo my feelings so won't repeat all their already fine arguments.

I was going to start a seperate thread on this but probably sits well here. There is currently a Joint COAG/NZFRMC undertaking an independent review of food labelling - submissions due by 14 MAY 2010.

There are also some national public forums from 17 March - 7 May.

Details at:
http://www.foodlabellingreview.gov.au/internet/foodlabelling/publishing.nsf/Content/home

Labelling of imported beef and GM labelling would be hot issues in regard to consumers' right to know.

I am not surprised we found a way to delay imports in fact just maybe that was always the intention.
And a re think has taken place, you can bet this meat will be branded in a way it can be traced.
We Will not import beef from China, we may from America and Argentina in time.
Trade is two way, we are not without sin, Kangaroo has been exported as beef.
Wool pack big prices paid, are seeing binding rope and other rubbish packed in side and ruining whole materials.
True or false wheat has been barred because of contamination.
Sheep too.
Dread full to think of but in time, you can bet on it, world trade may become a target for terrorism.
So lets check and double check all trade coming and going but let us understand boxing shadows is unproductive.

The incubation period for BSE is four years. It could be much longer than that before cases come to the notice of health authorities in exporting countries. Then we have to assume that the governments of exporting countries wouldn't be optimistic about the safety of the meat they have on the docks for export. Such decisions are usually based on politics not the health and well-being of consumers in importing countries.

There is no proposal to label meat and meat products for trace back and freeze them for over four years before distribution to ensure there is no BSE in the meat.

Despite assurances, the recommended necessary actions following the last outbreaks have not been fully implemented in the countries concerned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy

All I asking for is adequate food labelling so that I can make an informed choice when purchasing meat and meat products. It is only politics that prevents proper labelling and that can be fixed at the next election and the one after that if necessary.