020309 Feed Industry Concerned Over Mad Cow RulesMarch 2, 2002Washington - A congressional report calling for stronger enforcement of US rules to prevent "mad cow" disease is itself flawed, a feed industry group said. The report, released by the General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, reviewed laws banning the use of certain animal remains in cattle feed. The GAO said the US Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the feed ban, was using "inaccurate, incomplete, and unreliable data" to track and oversee compliance within the US meat and feed industry, leaving the United States vulnerable to mad cow disease. But the American Feed Industry Association said the GAO's report conflicted with other assessments of the program. The feed ban, enacted in 1997, has served as the United States' first line of defense against mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). "Although GAO's attempt to supplement a 15-year-long national campaign to keep BSE outside the US is commendable, the agency's report is characterized by shortcomings and oversights," the feed group said in a statement. "It offers no new knowledge in dealing with the issue and fails to recognize the findings of previous scientific studies," the statement said. In particular, the feed association cited a Harvard University study released in November that said the United States was "extremely unlikely" to get BSE.
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