SCoFCAH

"No vote has yet been taken in SCoFCAH on the issue.

But before any changes to the UK testing age for BSE can be made, the FSA and Defra must put the SCoFCAH proposals out to consultation and any recommendations to change the testing age must be signed off by relevant government ministers.

Mr Davies added: "We hope that SCoFCAH's confidence will now be reflected in a very swift dismantling by the Welsh Assembly of movement controls and restrictions in Wales."

In response to an increase in the detection rate of products contaminated with unauthorised genetically modified (GM) rice, the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) decided, on 14 November, to reinforce its controls on imports of Chinese rice products.

The decision by the Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health (SCOFCAH) also removed remaining restrictions on meat and meat product exports.

The Minister said she saw no reason why collection centres could not be fully operational subject to there being no further disease outbreaks and provided that there is a positive outcome from Thursday's SCoFCAH meeting in Europe when lifting the GB export ban will be discussed.

Two proposals to authorise genetically modified (GM) soybean products were not endorsed, on 14 November, by member states during a meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH).

The EU's Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health (Scofcah) has agreed to lift restrictions on British meat exports in the next few days.

The future of the export ban will be discussed on Thursday at a meeting in Brussels of the European Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health - SCoFCAH.

After several years of lobbying, the EU Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health (Scofcah) has agreed to raise the age threshhold for spinal column removal from 24 to 30 months.

"However we would like government to anticipate that EFSA's move will be positive and so be ready to immediately launch a campaign aimed at persuading specialists on the European Commission's working groups, and its Standing Committee of Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH), that raising the age to at least 30 months is proportionate to both risk and cost and should be adopted as quickly as legal and administrative processes allow."

Member states on the EU Standing Committee for the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) unanimously supported the proposal to end the restrictions on our beef exports into Europe.