S'pore adds Danish, German beef to ban

S'pore adds Danish, German beef to ban

SINGAPORE (AP): Germany and Denmark have been added to a list of countries whose beef cannot be imported to Singapore amid fears of mad cow disease, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

German beef imports were banned last month and Danish beef was added to the list as early as March, the Straits Times newspaper quoted Agri-food and Veterinarian Authority officials as saying.

Singapore banned beef imports from Britain, France, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium between 1996 and 1997 amid widespread fears of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

The brain wasting disease originally broke out in Britain and is feared to have spread to cattle across the European continent. Scientists believe it is spread by recycling meat and bone meal from infected animals back into cattle feed.