SURVEILLANCE tests across the EU are confirming that BSE is no longer a problem specific to the UK.

They also indicate that it will not be long before there are more new cases elsewhere in the EU than there are in this country.

According to the National Beef Association, this means it is no longer reasonable for the European Commission to treat the UK as a special case and beef export restrictions forced on farmers and traders through the inflexible Date Based Export Scheme must be urgently reviewed.

Actual figures show that the BSE incidence in cattle born in 1996 was 5.6 per million in the UK compared with 8.0 in Belgium; 4.4 in Denmark; 3.4 in France; 13.5 in Germany; 12.6 in Ireland, 5.3 in Italy, 25.0 in Portugal and 7.6 in Spain.

"This shows that five EU countries already have more BSE in younger cattle than we do and it is imperative that proper allowance is quickly made for this," said NBA export development committee chairman, Keith Redpath.

"We expect these figures to move even further in the UK's favour over the next two years because we have had a complete ban on feeding MBM to cattle since August 1996 and potentially infected MBM was still present in feed sold to livestock farmers elsewhere in the EU until a similar ban was imposed in October 2000.

"In these circumstances it is wrong for the UK to be singled out for special treatment and it would be both just and fair if cattle qualifying for export in this country could be killed and their beef sold under exactly the same conditions as cattle coming forward in the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Spain.

"Beef exported from all five of those countries is killed and processed in the same abattoirs that supply the domestic market.

There are no special separation conditions imposed, as there are in this country through the costly and inflexible DBES, and we would like the European Commission to accept very quickly that there is no justification for this and make the necessary amendments