Volume 3: The Early Years, 1986-88
6. Notification of the ruminant feed ban to other countries
Concern is raised about exports of MBM

6.52 On 1 December 1989 Dr Pickles sent the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Donald Acheson, a draft letter to send to MAFF, 'together with copies of recent PQs to demonstrate that we are not the only ones questioning this practice'. The draft letter, addressed to the Chief Veterinary Officer, stated:

There is a matter which I have discussed with you previously and which in the absence of a satisfactory answer I would now like to raise more formally. This concerns the continued export of potentially BSE- and scrapie-contaminated meat and bone meal from the UK. We acted promptly in this country to ban the feeding of this material to ruminants last summer. The tardy response from other nations, with so far only one or two restricting use of UK imports, suggests that the risk has not been fully appreciated overseas. Indeed it is unrealistic to expect nations who have not seen any BSE (yet) to give this any priority. There seems every justification for, at the very least, persuading UK manufacturers to give written warnings with exports that the meal is not for feeding to ruminants, and perhaps to alert the authorities in any nation importing our material. Whilst such trade may have been limited in the past, with the new restrictions on domestic outlets, the renderers and compounders could well be seeking new markets overseas. I hope you will feel able to look at this again and give me the reassurance I am seeking. ¹

6.53 On 3 January 1990 Sir Donald Acheson wrote to Mr Meldrum (the CVO):

You will recall that we have previously discussed the potential risks of BSE occurring in other countries as a result of the continuing exports from the UK of meat and bone that may be contaminated by scrapie or possibly BSE.

I remain concerned that we are not being consistent in our attempts to contain the risks of BSE. Having banned the feeding of meat and bone meal to ruminants in 1988, we should take steps to prevent these UK products being fed to ruminants in other countries. This could be achieved either through a ban on the export of meat and bone meal, or at least by the proper labelling of these products to make it absolutely clear they should not be fed to ruminants. Unless such action is taken the difficult problems we have faced with BSE may well occur in other countries who import UK meat and bone meal. Surely it is short sighted for us to risk being seen in future as having been responsible for the introduction of BSE to the food chain in other countries.

I would be very interested to hear how you feel this gap in the present precautionary measures to eliminate BSE should be closed. We should be aiming at the global elimination of this new bovine disease. The export of our meat and bone meal is a continuing risk to other countries. ²

6.54 A minute reporting the discussion at an internal meeting with MAFF Ministers on 24 January meeting recorded:

9. Mr Meldrum drew attention to the Chief Medical Officer's letter of 3 January requesting either a ban on the export of meat and bonemeal or labelling of these products when exported to make clear that they should not be fed to ruminants. We were currently exporting meat and bone meal to a number of third countries. If we informed them that these products were not permitted to be fed to ruminants in the UK, Mr Meldrum was convinced the countries concerned would cease to import them.

10. The Minister [now Mr John Gummer] said that we had a moral obligation to ensure that importing countries were aware that we did not permit the feeding of these products to ruminants. Moreover we could not take the risk of being responsible for exporting BSE through failure to inform importing countries. Mr Meldrum should accordingly write individually to his opposite number in each of the countries to which we exported this material. We should also make a statement in the OIE journal which was widely read throughout the world. In addition we should invite UKASTA members to inform us if they intended to develop a new export market for this material, in which case Mr Meldrum should inform those countries of the conditions applying. I should be grateful if Mr Meldrum would pursue these points urgently. ³

6.55 On 9 February 1990 Mr Meldrum wrote to Sir Donald Acheson. The letter included the following:

In recent years, about three quarters of our export trade in meat and bone meal has been with other Member States of the Community. From the outset they have been kept fully informed about BSE and its likely cause. They are of course at liberty, in the light of this knowledge, to stop imports or to impose whatever health conditions they wish prior to any importation and to determine its subsequent use. Some, like Germany, France, Italy and Greece, have decided to ban imports altogether. On the other hand, the Netherlands has adopted legislation which parallels our own, i.e. there is a ban on the use of ruminant based meat and bone meal in ruminant rations.

What we have been advocating in Brussels is a Community-wide restriction on the lines of the measures which currently operate in the UK and the Netherlands. It is not yet clear whether or not this proposal will attract the support we would wish. It may well depend on the results of an initiative taken by the Scientific Veterinary Committee, which is to look at rendering practices in the Community 'with a view to identifying the conditions which would eliminate the risk of the agent BSE being transmitted to ruminants by way of feedstuffs'. I attach a copy of the note commissioning this study. This group met for the first time last Monday and is expected to report in about two or three months' time. In all the circumstances therefore I do not see a need to take any action at this stage as regards other Member States.

A few non-Member States have been importing meat and bone meal but in very small quantities. Again, they should be fully aware of the position in the UK through the auspices of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) in Paris. OIE have been kept regularly informed about the disease so that the information can be made available to all the Member Countries. More recently a meeting was held by the OIE in Paris on BSE and the scientific conclusions of that meeting and their conclusions on the role of ruminant protein in the epidemiology of the disease are being sent to all 110 Member Countries. On the basis of this information importing countries can make their own judgement about whether or not to continue importing such material. Some, like Israel, have indeed stopped doing so. In spite of all this, to make doubly sure that these countries are absolutely certain about the situation, I will shortly be writing to their Chief Veterinary Officers to give them further details about BSE and the means we have taken to deal with it.

I hope that you will accept that we have approached this in a responsible manner and that it is not necessary to adopt the measures you suggest. I will of course keep you in touch with developments in relation to the Scientific Veterinary Committee sub-group's conclusions. ⁴

6.56 On 14 February 1990 Mr Meldrum wrote a letter to the Chief Veterinary Officers of a number of countries. ⁵ These were stated to be the countries which had imported ruminant-based meat and bone meal from the United Kingdom. The countries listed were Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Nigeria, Thailand, South Africa, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Canada, USA, Turkey, Kenya, Malta, Liberia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Puerto Rico, Curaçao and Finland. ⁶ The letter from Mr Meldrum said:

Although we have kept the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) fully informed about this new disease, and they will shortly be disseminating information and recommendations to member countries, I am writing to you on a personal basis to ensure that you are aware of all the developments in relation to BSE, including its likely cause. The majority of our findings have now been published in the Veterinary Record. ⁷

6.57 On 20 February 1990 Dr Pickles, commenting on Mr Meldrum's letter of 9 February, wrote to the CMO's office to say that:

1. Mr Meldrum is arguing that MAFF have already taken all the necessary and responsible steps to warn importing countries of the BSE dangers in UK meat and bone meal. Yet the action taken so far overseas suggests the message has not got through, or where it has this has been late. The first nation that woke up to the danger did so a year after our own feed ban. It seems even now several EC countries neither ban our imports or the general feeding of ruminant protein. It also seems the OIE and CVO have yet to inform the rest of the world.

2. I do not see how this can be claimed to be 'responsible'. We do not need an expert group of the Scientific Veterinary Committee to tell us British meat and bone meal is unsafe for ruminants. I fail to understand why this cannot be tackled from the British end which seems to be the only sure way of doing it, preferably by banning exports. As CMO says in his letter of 3 January 'surely it is short sighted for us to risk being seen in future as having been responsible for the introduction of BSE to the food chain in other countries'. ⁸

6.58 Dr Pickles attached a draft reply for the CMO to send to Mr Meldrum. The draft letter included the following:

I was pleased to hear of your action to inform nations overseas about the causation of BSE and the measures needed to prevent infection in their own cattle. But the evidence of action taken so far suggests other nations have not fully appreciated the possible hazards from our meat and bone meal, since only a few nations have either banned our imports or the more general feeding of ruminant material. It is in the knowledge that several other nations have yet to take adequate steps that I questioned whether we should be restricting exports. Your reply does not convince me that everything possible has already been done. ⁹

6.59 On 22 February 1990 the MAFF Permanent Secretary, Mr Andrews, held a meeting with his opposite number at DH, Sir Christopher France, and Sir Donald Acheson. Other officials from both Departments, including Mr Meldrum, were present. A minute of this meeting recorded in paragraph 18:

Sir Donald Acheson asked whether meat and bone meal that was exported should be labelled. Mr Meldrum said that he had now written to his opposite number in our trading partners. He had told them that the UK had imposed a ban, and importing countries must make their own decisions. We had not wanted to introduce a ban on exports since we were content to feed it to pigs and poultry. He was certain that other countries were fully aware of the situation in the UK. ¹⁰

6.60 On 27 February the CMO's office minuted Dr Pickles following this meeting, saying:

You very kindly provided a draft letter for CMO to send to Mr Meldrum on this subject. I understand from CMO that this was in fact discussed at their recent meeting and CMO has therefore decided not to pursue this question. ¹¹