US says Philippines opens market to US beef

US says Philippines opens market to US beef

	Published : Sun, 18 Nov 2007 08:53 By : Agencies Print this Story

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - The United States said Friday that the Philippines is allowing full market access to US beef after accepting international trade standards aimed at countering madcow disease.

Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner said the Philippines had fully complied with international trade standards regarding beef and beef products by allowing complete market access for US beef and beef products of all ages.

'I applaud Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap for making a decision that is based on sound science and in line with international guidelines,' Conner said in a statement.

'The Philippines has set the standard for other Asian nations, and we will continue to press for full market access throughout the Pacific Rim.'

The World Organization for Animal Health in May formally classified the United States as a controlled risk country for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as madcow disease, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) noted in the statement.

'This status confirms that US BSE regulatory controls are effective and that US beef and beef products of all ages can be safely traded,' it said.

The USDA said the full market opening was the result of recent bilateral discussions with its Filipino counterpart.

In August, the Philippines agreed to allow only imports of US boneless beef and offals from cattle less than 30 months of age.

The Philippines had restricted imports of certain types of US beef after the December 2003 discovery of the first US case of BSE, a fatal disease affecting the nervous system in cattle.

It imposed a temporary ban on all US beef and beef products in June 2005 after the discovery of a second case of the disease in the state of Texas.

BSE is the suspected cause of a similar brain-destroying illness in humans called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).

The main source of BSE has been traced to cattle feed containing the ground-up parts of infected animals.

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