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BSE: Disease control & eradication - The feed ban

The aim of our BSE-related feed control policy in the UK is clear – to ensure the continued successful decline and eventual eradication of BSE. Practical experience gained over the years has shown that effective controls on livestock feed are the key to achieving this. And we are getting there. The rate of BSE cases in cattle being reported now is significantly lower than in 1988, when the disease was first made notifiable, and the number of new cases continues to decline yet further.

The crucial factor behind this success has been the very high level of compliance with BSE-related feed controls throughout the feed manufacture, supply, and livestock industries. In addition, industry representative organisations’ own quality assurance schemes have considerably enhanced the official level of controls. Bearing in mind, however, that the actual dose of infective material required to infect a ruminant animal with BSE is very small (currently estimated to be as low as a single exposure through feed of 0.001 of a gram), there can be no room for complacency. There is a need for constant vigilance for everyone involved at all points of the feed chain, from those producing ingredients, to manufacturers and suppliers, right down to end-users, and the on-farm feeding practices used.

Feed controls

In the UK, the original feed ban was introduced in 1988 to prevent ruminant protein being fed to ruminants. In addition, it has been illegal to feed ruminants with all forms of mammalian protein (with specific exceptions) since November 1994 and to feed any farmed livestock, including fish and horses, with mammalian meat and bone meal (mammalian MBM) since 04 April 1996.

EU-wide Feed Controls

Harmonised EU control measures were introduced in 2001 to combat the spread of BSE. The measures included a ban on the feeding of processed animal proteins to animals which are kept, fattened or bred for the production of food. These control measures combined with domestic controls have proved successful and have significantly reduced the number of BSE cases across EU member states.
The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health on 5 August 2005 introduced new elements to the controls, whilst still maintaining the ban on the feeding of processed animal proteins to farmed animals. The new elements are contained in the EU Regulation (1292/2005) which amended Annex IV of the Regulation (999/2001) from 1 September 2005.
The amendments are currently implemented by the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (No.2) Regulations 2006, which came into force on 3 May 2006.

The measures set out in EU Regulation (999/2001) are currently being discussed in the context of the EU TSE Roadmap and possible changes to the controls are being considered.

Feed controls - At a glance

    Feed product Ruminants Non-ruminant farmed animals
    Permitted animal proteins - Milk, milk-based products and colostrum, Eggs & egg products, Gelatine from non-ruminants, Hydrolysed proteins derived from non-ruminants or from ruminant hides and skins Permitted – subject to required sourcing and processing standards under Animal By-Product controls Permitted – subject to required sourcing and processing standards under Animal By-Product controls
    Prohibited processed animal protein (includes mammalian meat and bonemeal, meat meal, bone meal, hoof meal, horn meal, greaves, poultry meal, poultry offal meal, feather meal); Gelatine from ruminants Banned (In addition to the restricted proteins listed below, and any animal protein not on the permitted list above) Banned (Unprocessed animal by- products are also banned from feeding to farmed animals under Animal By-Product controls)
    Restricted proteins (i.e. restricted to non-ruminant feed use) Fishmeal; Blood products; Blood meal (only to be fed to farmed fish); Di-calcium phosphate and tri-calcium phosphate (of animal origin only – not mineral) Banned Permitted – subject to authorisation to make feed with these products (Advice Note 2) or registration to use it in complete feed on farms where ruminants are present (see Advice Note 5 of the Guidance Notes)

Legislation regarding catering waste and former food stuff and controls on unprocessed animal by-products are in the Animal By-Products Regulations.
The BSE-related feed controls are set out in the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (No.2)feedban leaflet Regulations 2006. Guidance notes Adobe acrobat pdf file (92KB) are available.
  • Production or use of farmed animal feed containing restricted animal proteins is a leaflet aimed at feed producers and farmers to inform about the authorisation and registration requirements under the new Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Regulations 2006.

Monitoring and enforcement

To monitor compliance with BSE-related livestock feed controls in Great Britain, the State Veterinary Service (SVS) has been taking feed samples for analysis since February 1996. From 2001, previous sampling programmes were replaced by the risk-based National Feed Audit. Responsibility for enforcement in the event of a breach of the ban lies primarily with local authorities.

Page last reviewed: 10 September, 2006
Page last modified: 19 December, 2006

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs