What progress it is making towards ending the Over Thirty Months (OTM) Scheme.

In July 2004, the Food Standards Agency advised Scottish ministers that it would be acceptable, on grounds of low risk to consumers and proportionality, to replace the OTM Rule with BSE testing for OTM cattle born on or after 1 August 1996 subject to putting a robust testing regime in place. The Food Standards Agency advice was based on a rigorous independent risk assessment which was agreed by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee.
The OTM rule was introduced at a time when BSE posed a significant risk to UK consumers and it has been an effective component of our BSE controls. The risk has been greatly reduced and is now at a very low level. Scottish ministers and ministers in others part of the UK have accepted the agency’s advice and agreed a managed transition from the OTM Rule to a robust BSE testing system for cattle aged over thirty months and born on or after 1 August 1996. These cattle would be admitted into the food chain only when the agency has advised that a robust BSE testing system is in place with clear lines of accountability and when a public information and consultation exercise has been undertaken, in order to maintain a high level of consumer protection and confidence. The main public health protection measure – the removal of specified risk material – has been and will continue to be rigorously enforced by the Meat Hygiene Service.
vCJD is a dreadful disease. I and other ministers pay tribute to the courage of the families who have been tragically affected by it. We consider the protection of the public from this devastating condition to be of paramount importance. The Executive and other UK Administrations have made great efforts to control BSE in cattle. In the UK, over 37,000 clinical cases were confirmed in 1992 compared with 186 clinical cases last year; in Scotland, the equivalentfigures are 1,850 for 1992 (2,208 for 1993) and five for 2003. This reduction isexpected to continue, and the Executive and other UK Administrations will continueto work towards the complete eradication of BSE.
I and other ministers have also agreed that the Food Standards Agency should be responsible for the on-going audit and review of the testing system, and that the final switch from the OTM Rule to BSE testing should only happen when the Agency has advised ministers that the testing regime is robust. This role in relation to testing will be in addition to the Agency’s continuing responsibility, as an independent body set up to protect the public’s health and consumer interests in relation to food, for monitoring developments and advising on the scientific evidence on the food-borne BSE risk to consumers.
In advising on the robustness of testing, the agency will be assisted by a group of independent experts which includes experts in food safety and consumer affairs. This group will take into account recent failings in current testing arrangements, including in relation to casualty cattle.
The FSA will be conducting a full public consultation on draft legislation to replace the OTM rule by testing for OTM cattle born after July 1996. The timing of any changeover will be dependent on the agency advising ministers that it is satisfied that the testing regime is robust and on other matters such as amendments to legislation and the recruitment of additional Meat Hygiene Service staff. This will take until the latter half of next year.
Ministers have also agreed that it would be desirable for the ban on OTM imports to be lifted at the same time as the domestic OTM Rule, and that every effort should be made to accelerate the lifting of the EU restrictions on UK beef exports. Before export restrictions can be eased, there will need to be a further inspection visit from the EU’s Food and Veterinary Office to check our BSE controls and our testing arrangements, a proposal from the European Commission to amend EU legislation, and agreement by other EU member states. This is likely to