THE Ulster Farmers' Union has called for a separate BSE status for Northern Ireland beef to distinguish it from British beef.
The livestock committee of the union is holding an emergency meeting tonight to try to combat the crisis, which is threatening the beef industry in Northern Ireland. An estimated 25,000 people are employed directly or indirectly in the industry in the North.
Most of the North's 20 abattoirs have halted the slaughter of cattle and staff have been placed on protective notice, it was reported at the weekend.
Mr John Rankin, president of the Ulster Farmers' Union, said yesterday that Northern Ireland should have a separate BSE status to try to safeguard the industry.
The Ulster Unionist MEP, Mr Jim Nicholson, described the BSE scare as the "most serious situation that the Northern beef industry has ever had to face".
In Northern Ireland - in contrast to the Republic, where herds are slaughtered if there is a detection of BSE in just one animal - only the affected animal is killed. Mr Nicholson at the weekend suggested full herds should be slaughtered when BSE is detected.
Recently published figures illustrate that there have been far fewer cases of "mad cow disease" in Northern Irish than in British herds. Since 1989 there have been 158,882 cases of BSE in Britain compared with 1,680 in Northern Ireland.
While Northern Ireland is placed second in a chart of BSE cases published in Saturday's London Times, the incidence of the disease is dramatically behind that of Britain.
But Northern farmers are concerned that consumers will associate their beef with British beef, thus crippling the industry. Mr Wesley Aston, of the Ulster Farmers' Union, told Saturday's Belfast News Letter that the industry in the North was "crumbling" as a result of the BSE scare.
The union is also seeking an urgent meeting with the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, to discuss the crisis. Northern Ireland farmers hope that their beef can be freed from the British label and marketed separately.
"There are much fewer cases of BSE here than on the mainland and, with the unique tracing system we have here, we can tell where every cow is sold. We will know if any cattle from a BSE herd are sold," said Mr Aston.
Despite such assurance, butchers and supermarkets in the North have been reporting marked reductions in the sale of beef. Consumers have been opting for chicken, lamb and pork instead, store owners said.
Baroness Denton, the North's agriculture minister, in company with 300 farmers from the Ulster Farmers' Union, was in defiant mood, however. At the union's annual dinner in Enniskillen on Friday, they tried to maintain faith in Northern beef by dining, on roast sirloin of beef in a chasseur sauce.
