The Commission is reviewing the current EU laws on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) disease, the so-called mad cow disease and MEPs wants that any change to BSE safety rules must maintain high animal and public health standards. However, the Parliament considers that the ban on feeding animal protein to non-ruminants, such as pigs, lift if further safeguards are put in place.

The non-legislative resolution approved by MEPs states that changes to current EU laws, which the Commission is about to review, could include new rules on removing specific risk materials from animal feed, a gradual relaxation of the animal protein feed ban, changes to cohort culling policy and a higher age limit for BSE testing.

MEPs also reject a Commission proposal to reduce EU funding on research into transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), including BSE. TSEs cause degeneration of brain tissue leading to death in man and animals. They include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Kuru in humans, bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle and scrapie in sheep and goats.

The Parliament also expressed concern about recent contamination cases commenting on wider food and feed safety, e.g. with dioxin, and called on EU Member States to enforce existing rules and strengthen them, if necessary.