RI bans Canadian meat over BSE fears

RI bans Canadian meat over BSE fears

Dow Jones, Jakarta

Indonesia has banned all imports of meat and meat products from Canada with immediate effect, a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday.

The decision follows news of the discovery of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in Canada.

"To prevent and avoid BSE entering Indonesia, the government has banned the import of meat and meat products starting on Thursday. We will evaluate the decision after observing developments in Canada," said a statement issued by Tri Satya Hutabart, acting director for animal health at the Ministry of Agriculture.

The ministry didn't provide information on whether Indonesia imports meat from Canada or how much.

Indonesia's decision follows close on the heels of similar bans imposed by the United States and New Zealand among other countries on Canadian meat products.

Canadian authorities have stressed that the one affected cow out of Canada's total cattle population of 3.6 million was slaughtered Jan. 31, and never reached human or animal consumption, the known method of spreading infection.

Mad-cow disease brought great hardship on Britain after it was first diagnosed in 1986, affecting around 180,000 animals and causing more than 100 human deaths around Europe.

In 2001, Britain experienced a particularly robust outbreak of the disease, prompting a change in diets and culinary practices in much of Europe.