More Funding for BSE

USDA Secretary Ann Veneman announced yesterday that President Bush’s proposed budget for her department would include a $47 million increase to support multi-agency efforts to prevent exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, so-called mad cow disease.

The president’s call for more BSE funding, totaling $60 million, represents a 377 percent increase over the 2004 USDA budget. Among other measures, the funding would include: $33 million to further accelerate the development of a national animal identification system; $17 million for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to collect 40,000 samples and tests for BSE at rendering plants and on farms; and $4 million for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to conduct monitoring and surveillance of compliance with the regulations for specified risk materials and advance meat recovery.