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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kevin Rose who wrote (134227)	3/30/2001 11:17:17 AM
From: gao seng	Respond to of 769667

I would hope so. But with people like Ted Turner who knows? On a side note, but relevant in a way to other discussions on global warming, etc.: I have always been skeptical of prions causing disease because they are not organisms. Mad cow disease, which is said to be caused by prions, may be another scientific blunder. Tainted Meat Smuggled Into Britain By Sue Leeman Associated Press Writer Friday, March 30, 2001; 2:28 a.m. EST LONDON –– Diseased and rotting meat that may be the source of Britain's foot-and-mouth epidemic is smuggled into the country every day, officials say. Critics say Britain needs tighter, regular controls on food imports, and relies too heavily on hit-and-miss spot checks at ports. On 14 flights alone last year, officials seized 5 1/2 tons of illegal meat, some of it "rank and full of maggots," said Clive Lawrance of Ciel Logistics, which oversees licensed meat imports through Heathrow Airport. "That is just the tip of the iceberg – I reckon that at least five tons a day are coming into the country through Heathrow," he said. "It is high-risk material and almost nothing is being done to stop it. So you could say this disaster was inevitable." Agriculture Minister Nick Brown this week suggested that diseased foreign meat, perhaps from an illegal shipment or carried by a passenger, could have gotten into improperly cooked pig swill and set off the epidemic. Official figures show about 200 illegal consignments of meat are intercepted as they arrive in Britain each month; 2,500 pounds of illegal meat and fish, including live crabs and snails, was found on one flight from Nigeria in May. The Evening Standard newspaper reported this week that one of its reporters went to a London street market and bought a large smoked rodent for $25, thought to have come from West Africa, an area afflicted by foot-and-mouth. Similarly, a television team bought crudely butchered cow and goat parts. "The problem is, that no one is specifically designated to make regular checks for meat products," often concealed in consignments of fruit and vegetables, said Mike Young, spokesman for the Association of Port Health Authorities. "Anyone can walk in carrying almost anything," he said. Food safety expert Professor Hugh Pennington of Aberdeen University argued that U.S. border checks "are much stricter and they have millions of people coming through. They've avoided the disease, so why can't we?" The United States, which has been free of foot-and-mouth since 1929, banned all meat and livestock imports from the 15 European Union nations after the British outbreak. Travelers who acknowledge on customs forms that they have recently been on a farm or have meat or other foodstuffs that could carry the disease are taken aside for special questioning. The U.S. Department of Agriculture uses sniffer dogs to detect contraband meat and soiled boots on passengers coming off flights from Britain and other affected countries. All dirty shoes are disinfected. British Customs officers say it is impossible to search everyone, nor do they have the resources to increase surveillance. Dogs are used only for drug searches. "We have risk profiles, and we search those with the highest risk," said Customs spokesman Mark Thomson. Officials are currently targeting flights from West Africa, looking for drugs and meat, he said. Intercepted contraband is destroyed immediately, but carriers are not punished, Lawrance said. Under EU rules, there are no routine health checks for animals or animal products coming into Britain from other EU states, but British officials make random checks. All commercial imports of animal or animal products from countries outside the EU must be checked at approved at border inspection posts. Individuals may bring any amount of meat and dairy products – except unpasteurised milk – into Britain from the EU for personal consumption. From non-EU countries, they may only bring up to 2.2 pounds of cooked meat in hermetically sealed containers and the same amount of dried milk powder, provided it comes from one of 25 approved countries. © Copyright 2001 The Associated Press washingtonpost.com