The timing of the British decision to ban the sale of beef on the bone - including cuts such as T-bone steaks, oxtail and roast ribs - could hardly be more difficult for Irish producers and exporters. The latest scare comes amid increasing evidence that the beef industry in this country has begun to weather the storm over "mad cow disease" and CJD. Beef consumption has been returning to pre-BSE levels and there is some confidence in agriculture circles that the industry has absorbed the lessons and is ready to move on.
In this context, the resentment felt in the farming industry over the precipitate action of the British authorities in banning beef on the bone is understandable and justified. It can indeed be argued that the British response is disproportionate. The agriculture minister, Dr Jack Cunningham, acknowledges that there is, according to scientists, a "very, very small chance" that BSE can be spread through bone or bone marrow. The ban, he says, is being imposed as a strictly precautionary basis.
The awkward truth for the beef industry, however, is that Dr Cunningham has no alternative but to act decisively. As he told the Commons on Wednesday, "I could not contemplate having this (scientific) advice and knowingly allowing infected BSE material into the food chain." The contrast with the fumbling, inept approach of the previous British government to last year's BSE scare - which led to dwindling public confidence in the safety of beef - could hardly have been more stark.
The question now is whether a similar ban should be applied in this State. At a time when public confidence in beef is being restored, the authorities must tread carefully. There is a case for erring on the side of caution by imposing a ban, but it must also be acknowledged that on the basis of what is known, the level of risk is much less significant in Ireland. The epidemiology of BSE is certainly different; in this State the complete herd is slaughtered once an infected animal is identified and no meat gets into the food chain. In Britain, by contrast, only the infected animal is slaughtered.
The number of BSE cases in this State (some 300 cases in a national herd of over 7 million) also compares very favourably with the situation in Britain where 200,000 cases have been identified. Against this background, the British decision to apply the ban to Irish exports of boned-in beef (accounting for some 10 per cent of Irish beef exports to Britain) is inexplicable, and probably illegal under EU law. At the very least, the standing EU veterinary committee should have been more closely involved before any action was taken. The Department of Agriculture is wise to maintain a close watching brief in conjunction with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the Department of Health on the emerging scientific evidence. If there is one political lesson to be drawn from the BSE crisis it is that there is nothing to be gained from a symbiotic relationship between government and the beef industry. The Government must approach the BSE crisis with an open mind and with one guiding principle - that the needs of the customer should be paramount.