Agence France Presse | January 22, 2002
Chinese quarantine officials have discovered apparent traces of mad cow disease in waste products imported from Belgium, state press reported Tuesday.
Traces of bovine spongiform enchephalopathy (BSE) was found in beef residue included within 23 tonnes of Belgian waste imports that were to be recycled in the southern province Guangdong, the China Daily said.
"The waste was imported to produce recycled paper but was infected by BSE, known as mad-cow disease," the paper said. The incident is thought to be the first time China has admitted to the presence of BSE in the country.
Chinese agricultural officials maintain the disease has never been found domestically within China.
The infected waste products were destroyed on Friday in Zhongshan city, the newspaper said.
Also among the infected waste was vegetable seeds, wood, pork and flour as well as "rotten dog food, old shoes, rubber gloves, chocolate and glass", the report said.
Thirty other shipping containers containing 685 tons of waste paper were due to be returned to the unnamed Belgian exporter.
Due to paper shortages and a ban on logging in China, Chinese recycling firms routinely import waste paper from developed countries, but often find the imports contain nothing but rubbish which cannot be reused.
With its entry into the World Trade Organization completed, China has stepped up its quarantine laws and regulations and requires quarantine permission for imported vegetable seeds and meat, the paper said.
Quarantine restrictions on imported foodstuffs and agricultural products have long been used internationally as non-tariff measures that effectively restrict imports and protect local industries.
Earlier this month, quarantine officials in Guangdong detected for the second time in less than a month E. Coli 0157, a potentially lethal bacteria, in US frozen chicken imports.
In both cases, the suspected imports were destroyed and buried, making independent analysis impossible.
US officials in Beijing said they were willing to comply with Chinese quarantine restrictions, but asked for samples of the infected chicken while maintaining that US biologists have never found E. Coli 0157 in chicken. The bacteria is mainly found in infected beef products.Agence France Presse:
