Mad Cow Crisis

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> Headline: Chronology of mad cow crisis

> Wire Service: RTna (Reuters North America)

> Date: Mon, Nov 23, 1998

>

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> The following news report may not be republished or redistributed, in

> whole

> or in part, without the prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.

>

> BRUSSELS, Nov 23 (Reuters) - European Union farm ministers on Monday

> backed lifting a worldwide ban on British beef exports imposed more than

> two years ago over the mad cow crisis.

> Here is a chronology of related scientific and political events

> beginning with the discovery in Britain of a new cattle disease more than

> a decade ago:

> NOVEMBER 1986 - Mad cow disease or BSE (bovine spongiform

> encephalopathy) first identified by the British government's Central

> Veterinary Laboratory.

> DECEMBER 1987 - Scientific tests reveal practice of feeding meat and

> bone meal containing animal parts to cattle was cause of BSE.

> JUNE 1988 - Britain stops feeding meat and bone meal to cattle.

> JULY 1989 - EU bans export of British cattle born before July 18,

> 1988 and the offspring of infected animals.

> APRIL 1990 - Creation of the Edinburgh-based Spongiform

> Encephalopathy

> Advisory Committee (SEAC) to spearhead research into BSE.

> MARCH 1991 - First case of BSE in cattle born after the 1988 meat and

> bone meal ban registered.

> JULY 1993 - 100,000th confirmed case of BSE in Britain.

> JULY 1994 - European Commission says British exports of

> beef-on-the-bone can only come from herds which have been BSE-free for at

> least six years.

> MARCH 1996 - SEAC says special unit looking into human

> Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) has concluded most likely explanation for

> CJD is exposure to BSE before the offal ban in 1989.

> MARCH 1996 - EU imposes worldwide ban on exports of beef from

> Britain. It applies to live bovine animals, semen, embryos and meat of

> bovine animals slaughtered in Britain. It also covers materials used in

> the manufacture of medical products, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

> APRIL 1996 - Britain stops selling meat from cattle aged over thirty

> months.

> MAY 1996 - British government declares " policy of non-cooperation "

> with EU. The then Prime Minister Major sets up crisis committee

> charged with paralysing EU business until the ban is lifted.

> JUNE 1996 - EU heads of state agree framework for lifting export ban

> at Florence summit. Britain ends non-cooperation policy. EU reauthorises

> exports of gelatine, tallow and semen.

> DECEMBER 1996 - Britain details so-called Export Certified Herds

> Scheme (ECHS) under which animal passports prove an animal comes from a

> BSE-free herd.

> JULY/AUGUST 1997 - Illegal shipments of British beef are found in

> various EU countries. Germany leads call for tighter British controls on

> exports.

> OCTOBER 1997 - Britain formally introduces date-based scheme covering

> mainland Britain and meat from animals born after August 1, 1996.

> JANUARY 1998 - Britain bans sale and import of all beef-on-the-bone

> after SEAC says there is a small chance that BSE could be transmitted in

> nerve tissue, including the spinal column and bone marrow.

> MARCH 1988 - EU farm ministers give go-ahead for Northern Ireland to

> start sending first British beef shipments to foreign supermarket shelves

> under the terms of the Export Certified Herds Scheme.

> NOVEMBER 1998 - Panel of EU vets votes in favour of lifting remaining

> ban on exports of mainland British beef.

> NOVEMBER 23 - A majority of EU farm ministers vote in favour of

> lifting the ban on mainland Britain.

> REUTERS