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.