Irish beef in breach of BSE rules, says British body

The Department of Agriculture said last night it was investigating a report from the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) that…

The Department of Agriculture said last night it was investigating a report from the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) that beef from Ireland had been found in the London markets which contained Specified Risk Material - a possible carrier of BSE.

The FSA said the imported beef had been found with spinal column but was contained in boxes which described it as "boneless beef".

This was in breach, it said, of the BSE regulations in the UK and the beef had been seized by the British authorities and the Irish authorities had been informed.

A FSA spokesman stressed the receiving company in England was not responsible for the problem as the vertebral columns should have been removed when the meat was being processed in Ireland.

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A Department of Agriculture spokesman said last night it was investigating the reports the beef had been exported by a north Munster meat export plant.

"While I do not have the specifics to hand on this particular case, our veterinary inspectors normally close down the killing lines in plants where such problems are alleged until the investigations are complete," he said. He said all aspects surrounding the export of the beef, including the boxing of the material, would be investigated fully.

Ireland's beef exports to the British market increased to 240,000 tonnes last year from an average 100,000 tonnes annually, on foot of a scarcity of stock in Britain caused by the culling of animals during the foot-and-mouth crisis in 2001.