PM's Statement

The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, announced the review of BSE controls at a special Downing Street summit of food and farming industry leaders on March 30, 2000.

The Prime Minister's Action Plan for Farming said, “Food safety is at the top of the Government's agenda. Britain now has the highest and tightest standards in the world. We will maintain these. But we must have no ‘gold plating’ at the expense of the industry. This means effective, rather than onerous, regulation.”

Just four days later, at the launch of the Food Standards Agency, Sir John Krebs, FSA Chairman, set out the role of the new organisation and put the BSE controls review in context.

Sir John said, 'The Prime Minister announced that we will be reviewing the BSE controls to ensure that they adequately protect consumers and reflect the risks. With the Agency being set up and taking over responsibility for this area, this review is timely. We know that the current controls are based on the best expert advice available. We wish to review these controls in the light of emerging knowledge of BSE as well as new variant CJD to ensure that they service their purpose both now and in the future. This review will be completed before the end of the year.”

You can read Sir John's speech in full