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.