While Ireland’s BSE status is defined for the foreseeable future due to the finding of an animal with the disease in Co Louth last month, Northern Ireland remains in a position to apply for negligible risk status.

The UK, in general, will be eligible in 2018, but Northern Ireland, very much a distinct region, is eligible to apply now as it has been more than 11 years since the birth of their last case of BSE.

However, before they could pursue such an application, it was necessary to get the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) on board for such an application.

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It has been confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal this week that: “The Food Standards Agency has no objection to a proposed application by Northern Ireland for BSE negligible risk status in 2015.”

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) have confirmed that: “DARD are currently investigating the possibility of applying for negligible risk BSE status on a regionalised basis. No final decision has yet been taken.”

Of course, they will be mindful that they could find themselves in Ireland’s position should a future case of BSE turn up and that risk has to be balanced against the benefits of Northern Ireland having negligible risk status.

Achievement of this would bring a direct and immediate benefit to Northern Ireland beef farmers because the SRM charges, introduced as a consequence of having to dispose of certain material as high-risk material, should be significantly reduced.

This charge used to also apply to farmers killing cattle south of the border, but was removed several years ago and has since been absorbed by factories as part of their operating cost.