United Kingdom-End to splitting mutton carcass's.

UNITED KINGDOM-The Food Standards Agency will be pressed at a meeting next week to re-examine current TSE regulations which require removal of spinal cord in all sheep over 12 months old.

Vice-chairman of the NFU’s national livestock board, Malcolm Corbett, will tell the agency of the impact that the regulations are having on producers and the changes needed to the carcass splitting rules.

Representatives of DEFRA’s TSE division and processors wil also be present at the meeting.

"The devaluation of lambs due to the way the TSE rules are policed in UK abattoirs has gone on for too long, and a solution has to be found as soon as possible," said Mr Corbett.

"There is compelling EU scientific evidence that lamb meat poses negligible risk to the human food chain and therefore the EU rules with regard to sheep age detection and the UK TSE controls need to be changed.

"Splitting the carcass is not the answer and a new one has to be found. This meeting is an ideal opportunity to gain a solution to the problem once and for all."

The aim of the meeting is said to be to formulate a set of actions which will prevent further devaluation of lamb while maintaining consumer protection.

The areas to be looked at will include:

* A joint lobbying strategy to lift EU restrictions;

* Getting changes to the UK implementation procedures;

* Different techniques to remove the spinal cord for animals over 12 months old in various plants;

* Solutions to prevent the need to remove the spinal cord of lambs.