January 27, 2003

Current BSE testing does not ensure a safe meat supply according to Italy's Carabinieri. Although 1 million mad cow tests have been conducted on Italian cattle destined for slaughter since testing became compulsory at the beginning of 2001, the 88 detections are not as significant as actions to avoid BSE testing altogether, according to a USDA report.

The publication Repubblica's article on Dec. 6 details illegal drug use on animals, fraud, cattle rustling, unregulated slaughter, and other problems with Italy's beef and feed industry, the report says.

Over the two years since obligatory BSE testing was invoked, the government has been investigating irregularities in the cattle industry and meat trade. According to the report, investigations conducted by the Italian law enforcement unit responsible for fraud in food and animal health, the Carabinieri NAS, has documented extensive illegal hormone and drug use, cattle theft, and illegal slaughter.

Abuses, arrests, fines, and the ways employed by some Italian producers to avoid BSE testing are detailed in the article. The article also highlights some human health consequences of eating meat containing anabolic steroids, antibiotics, cortisone, and somatotrophin.

The article summarized Carabinieri investigations carried out from January 2001 to November 2002 throughout Italy.

USDA officials said Italy's beef sector has been "notorious for these types of practices." While the article depicts abuses in the beef livestock sector, this stands in sharp contrast to the pork sector. A significant difference is that the Italian beef sector has no exports to the United States.

Apart from the EU ban on imports of U.S. hormone-treated beef, USDA has no trade concerns with Italian beef, the report points out. Regarding Italian pork meat and processed hams, which do enter the U.S. food supply, USDA has participated with the government to improve operations and inspections of pork slaughter and processing facilities.

The entire report is available on the Internet at http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200301/145785146.pdf.