April 2001 - From the Director

TSE Coalition Put Back Into Action

By Tom Cook
President, National Renderers Association

BSE has once again raised its ugly head in recent months to levels of anxiety and concern that surpass our experiences of the mid-1990s.

Because of this, the North American Rendering Industry Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) Coalition is reactivated and busy. This coalition was formed during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis of 1996. It consists of leader representatives from the American Meat Institute (AMI), Animal Protein Producers Industry (APPI), Fats and Proteins Research Foundation, and the National Renderers Association (NRA). The coalition was very active during the years 1996 through 1998, a period in which the industry was faced with a new regulation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banning the use of certain mammalian animal proteins in feed for cattle and other ruminants. The coalition also led the victorious fight to preserve the export market for tallow to the European community.

Coalition activities slowed down in late 1998 and it essentially went dormant leaving the BSE related issues up to the individual organizations.

The North American Rendering Industry TSE Coalition Committee met in Alexandria, VA, February 28 and March 1. This was a very important meeting for the industry. The committee was briefed by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and FDA officials and industry staff. They also met with representatives from the AMI, American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), Pet Food Institute, National Grain and Feed Association, National Milk Producers Federation, and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). This industry roundtable found common ground for all to exchange ideas and the individual programs related to BSE. There was unity amongst the participants in the opinion that we needed to work together and make sure our messages to the public were uniform and consistent.

The meeting concluded with planned strategy and action plans.
• It was agreed that the theme should be, “We do not have BSE in North America and we produce a safe product.”
• We support the FDA feed ban rule as it currently exists, and do not want to reopen it.
• We oppose the specified risk material concept of good and bad material.
• We support the APPI, AFIA, and other industry certification programs.
• We should work closely with the AMI, AFIA, and NCBA.
• We need to improve our liaison with the USDA and FDA.

Plans are to take action on the following: update the industry economic impact study which was done in 1996; seek meetings with Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson; also meet with key members of Congress and key staff; develop an issues management/public strategy program for the industry; represent industry at key meetings; and secure funding for the TSE Trust Fund to carry out the program.

What has happened to cause the renewed and heightened interest in BSE? Following is some background.

Cases of BSE were discovered in France and Germany in the Fall of 2000. This caused a new heightened level of awareness throughout all of Europe. The disease was spreading to new sites that many thought were protected from the dreaded disease. European government officials implemented a zero tolerance policy and began imposing a whole new round of regulations.

The United States and Canadian governments imposed its own import restrictions on all animal meal products from the European community in December 2000.

Public awareness of BSE was growing. Two incidences occurred in January 2001 that fueled the fire, bringing media coverage about BSE to an all time high. First, the FDA released a compliance report on the feed ban of feed mills and renderers. The report was based on raw data with no explanation. During an interagency conference call, the raw data was reported. We’ve since learned that the call was infiltrated by an activist who taped the call and gave the tape to the press. Once the press had the information, FDA felt obliged to release the report. The media took this information and reported a situation that simply did not exist. It cast doubt as to whether the feed ban was working.

The dust had not settled when Purina Mills notified FDA that they might have inadvertently mixed some prohibitive material in cattle rations that went to a Texas feedlot. Mysteriously, news of this investigation got leaked to the press. Every major network and news outlet made headline news out of this incident. The way it was reported, it led a lot of people to believe we finally had BSE in the United States.

Eventually, FDA reported that the feed and the cattle were safe and that the cattle in question were exposed to no more that five grams per animal. That is less than an aspirin per animal.

The NCBA hosted a meeting in late January of industry and government associations. The attendees, including the NRA, produced a joint statement of unanimity (see “Industry Supports Sound Science”) reminding the public that BSE does not exist in the United States. It recommended that the U.S. government increase its efforts in monitoring imports, step up the surveillance program, and provide the necessary resources to enforce the FDA feed ban.

The media continues to “look” for a story. We must make sure we do not give them one.