By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

South Korea is likely to be categorized by an international animal health-governing body as a controlled-risk country for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), more commonly known as mad cow disease, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Sunday.

A livestock technical committee at the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said last week that the country could see its classification upgraded after meeting livestock control and testing standards, ministry officials said.

The committee decision will be open to be reviewed by OIE member countries for 60 days, before earning the final confirmation from the body in May if no objections are raised. With the controlled risk status, Korea will be able to export beef with few restrictions.

The farm ministry said Korea is likely to be granted the green light on cattle control this time around.

"It is still possible the country will not get it in the case a serious objection is raised on a scientific basis, but such cases are very rare," an official said.

Even though the designation doesn't lead to an immediate rise in beef exports, it will still make the global community realize that the country is monitoring its livestock in a safe way, he added.

The Paris-based organization classifies cattle population of a country into three categories: negligible BSE risk, controlled BSE risk or undetermined BSE risk.

South Korea is currently rated as an undetermined BSE risk, because although it has had no reported cases of the disease, it didn't carry out the required number of tests on livestock.

The OIE's Terrestrial Animal Health Code only recommends imports from controlled BSE risk countries.

BSE is a transmissible, neurodegenerative fatal brain disease of cattle. The disease has a long incubation period of four to five years and it is fatal for cattle within weeks to months from its onset.

The disease is transmitted through the consumption of BSE-contaminated meat and bone meal supplements in cattle feed. BSE first came to the attention of scientists in November 1986, as its appearance was first reported in cattle in the United Kingdom.

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr