A party of top veterinary and human health experts from Hong Kong made a whistle-stop tour of farms and abattoirs last week to take a detailed look at the BSE controls in the UK.
The six strong team from the Hong Kong Food Safety and Imports Control Agency, who were accompanied by EBLEX staff, met Defra’s Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer and his team in London and then visited three meat plants and two farms in the north of England. They also saw the private testing laboratory that carries out overnight tests for BSE on all cattle over thirty months of age destined for human consumption.
Jean-Pierre Garnier, EBLEX Export Manager says: "The legacy of BSE means the UK does not have official export certification for Hong Kong for bovine products, but this visit opens up the potential for exports of quality prime beef and offal to start once again.
"We hope the expert team will have seen enough evidence of how rigorously BSE testing is applied in the UK and that they will be making recommendations to the Hong Kong government on the terms of health certificates to allow shipments to start. Judging from our recent successes with pork and sheep offal exports to Hong Kong, sales potential for beef and offal are massive".
