Food Standards Australia New Zealand

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)

(Last updated December 2011)

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or 'mad cow disease', is a disease of cattle. It is believed that consumption of the BSE agent contaminated food can lead to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans.

Australia is a negligible risk BSE country , as are a number of other countries.

BSE requirements in the Food Standard Code

Since BSE was first identified as a major risk to human health, Australia has had comprehensive arrangements in place to protect people from exposure to the BSE agent via food.

Under Clause 11, Standard 2.2.1 of the Australian New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Food Standards Code), only beef and beef products derived from animals free from BSE can be sold in Australia. Food ingredients and products that are exempt from these requirements are:

  • collagen sourced from bovine skins and hides (including sausage casings produced from this type of collagen)
  • gelatine sourced from bovine skins and hides
  • a minor ingredient of a processed product when that ingredient comprises bovine fat and/or bovine tallow at no more than 300 g/kg of the food; and
  • dairy products sourced from bovines.

BSE food safety policy

In 1 March 2010, new requirements came into effect for countries wanting to export beef and beef products to Australia. Under the new requirements, certain beef and beef products may be imported from countries that can show they have appropriately monitored controls in place to ensure exports of beef and beef products to Australia are derived from BSE-free animals.

Further information on the new requirement can be found in the document Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE): Requirement for the Importation of Beef and Beef Products for Human Consumption (pdf 117 kb)

Countries wanting to export beef and beef products to Australia must apply to the Australian BSE Food Safety Assessment Committee (the Committee) for assessment. A request for assessment must be accompanied by the completed Australian Questionnaire to Assess BSE Risk (pdf 85 kb).

Assessment requests are prioritised by the Committee based on the applicant country’s history of exporting beef and beef products to Australia; completeness of data submitted; willingness to engage in an in-country inspection, general history of trade with Australia and knowledge of infrastructure and veterinary services.

A risk assessment is undertaken by FSANZ and reviewed by the Committee before a draft report is provided to the applicant country for comment for 60 days. At this time (if the Committee believes it’s needed) an Australian inspection team will also visit the country to verify BSE control measures.

The importation of beef and beef products for human consumption into Australia is also subject to an assessment of animal quarantine risks by Biosecurity Australia. On 8 April 2010, Biosecurity Australia announced the commencement of concurrent import risk analyses (IRAs) for the United States, Canada and Japan based on previous applications made by these countries.

For more information about the import risk analyses see Biosecurity Australian Advice 2010/10. 

Transition requirements

Countries that were able to export beef and beef products to Australia under the previous policy are able to continue to do so if they submitted an application for BSE assessment to the Committee by 30 June 2011.

Further information on the transition requirement can be found in the document Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE): Requirement for the Importation of Beef and Beef Products for Human Consumption (pdf 117 kb)

The latest Australian review on the current science and control measures relating to BSE in support of Australia’s new policy can be found in the document Review of Scientific Evidence to Inform Australian Policy on Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (pdf 314 kb).

Details of the process and status of country BSE food safety risk assessments can be obtained from the following links:

Further information can be obtained by contacting FSANZ on phone +61 2 6271 2222, or email BSE@foodstandards.gov.au .