Malaysia bans imports of beef from Thailand and Brazil

Malaysia bans imports of beef from Thailand and Brazil

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysia has banned the import of beef and beef products from Thailand and Brazil to guard against mad cow disease, Health Minister Chua Jui Meng said on Wednesday.

The ban on Brazilian beef and beef products from Feb. 6 followed a similar move by the United States, Canada and Mexico, Chua said.

The ban on Thai imports from Feb. 10 followed reports that several people there were diagnosed with the human form of mad cow disease.

There was also information that Thailand may have been feeding livestock with meat and bonemeal derived from cows imported from Europe, Chua said.

"We will continue the ban until a time we get an assurance that there is no danger to consumers in Malaysia ... that our people will be safe from any possible risks of being infected with the mad cow disease," he told a news conference.

Malaysia in January banned beef and beef products from the European Union and Switzerland.

Thai authorities earlier Wednesday denied reports that two Thais had been diagnosed with the human form of mad cow disease, and dismissed Malaysia's ban on Thai beef imports as a publicity stunt.

"They are just seizing the opportunity, amid the confusion about the presence of mad cow disease in Thailand, to raise the profile of their exports of beef and beef products to Middle Eastern countries," Livestock Department director general Rapeepong Wongdee said.

Rapeepong said a misunderstanding arose when Bangkok's Mahidol University said last week that two Thais were found with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a deadly illness linked to mad cow disease.

But university officials later said they had made a mistake and that the two patients suffered from regular CJD which is unrelated.

Chua said the ban would have little impact as imports from the two countries were minimal.

Between January and November last year, Malaysia imported 192,000 ringgit ($50,526) of beef and beef products from Thailand and only 126,000 ringgit worth from Brazil, he said. Most beef is imported from India, Australia and New Zealand.

Chua said his ministry, together with the customs and veterinary services departments, would step up surveillance along border areas to prevent the smuggling of beef from Thailand.

In a related development, Canada said on Tuesday it would start reassessing its controversial ban on Brazilian beef exports early next week once inspectors had finished an investigation into whether Brazil's cattle might be infected with mad cow disease.

But Brian Evans, Canada's chief veterinary officer, did not say how long Canadian officials and inspectors would take to recommend whether to lift the ban, which has badly damaged relations between Ottawa and Brazil.

Canada froze Brazilian beef imports 10 days ago on mad cow concerns after Brazil did not provide sufficient information about what had happened to cows it had imported from Europe, where most animals infected with the disease have been found.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), has been linked to more than 80 deaths in humans, but has never been reported in the United States or Brazil.

Evans said the inspectors from Canada, Mexico and the United States would start work in Brazil on Wednesday afternoon and would be there for five or six days.