MLC seeking FSA support for phasing out Over Thirty Month Scheme Supplies of home produced beef for the growing markets in manufactured meat products appear likely to remain fairly tight, contrary to press reports suggesting one of the Government's BSE eradication programmes will soon be changed to allow more cattle into the food chain. An MLC proposal to the Food Standards Agency has been interpreted by some processors and producers as meaning huge numbers of older cattle, including dairy cows, might no longer have to be destroyed after slaughter as at present legally required under a scheme imposed when the BSE crisis erupted in March 1996. MLC's approach on behalf of several industry organisations does seek FSA support for phasing out or abolishing the Over Thirty Month Scheme, but restrictions would be so tight as to leave most of the animals covered by the current rules still shut out of the market. The key requirement envisaged under a new regime is for any animal aged more than 30 months to have had all its details recorded by MAFF's Cattle Movement Service, which was set up only two years ago. "That means no beast born before September 1998 could ever go into the food chain," MLC economist Duncan Sinclair told The Grocer on Monday. The MLC proposal has been reported as indicating some stock aged over 30 months but meeting the strict new criteria could begin entering the food market next April. "The reality is more likely to be April 2002, at the earliest," said Sinclair. Even then, the only extra cattle likely to be available in remotely significant numbers would be the steers and heifers intended for beef production which at at present accidentally slip beyond the age limit. One feature of the MLC-led initiative likely to be particularly welcomed by retailers is the decision not to seek extensions of the age restriction, perhaps in six monthly steps as some producers and processors have wanted, as it is feared these could attract recurrent publicity and revive consumer awareness of BSE. {{MEAT }}

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