RIYADH, 7 August — The Netherlands, which has lost SR400 million in meat export opportunities with Saudi Arabia, will send an advisory to Gulf governments next week detailing the stringent measures undertaken by European countries to ensure their livestock is free of all disease, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

The BSE scare has resulted in a prolonged ban on imports of Dutch meat. Total losses suffered by the EU countries all together on account of the prolonged Saudi ban runs into billions of Saudi riyals.

The Kingdom banned imports of Dutch meat way back in 1997, but only imposed a total ban on imports from all other EU countries last year.

“More than 360 million consumers in Europe are now buying meat and meat products still banned by the Kingdom and other GCC countries,” said Jos G. van de Vooren, agriculture counselor at the Netherlands Embassy.

Referring to the outline of efforts undertaken by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries to get the Saudi ban lifted, he said the advisory will be sent to the Saudi Commerce Minister Osama Faqeeh.

Asked about the measures put in place by the Netherlands to contain the disease, Vooren said that every country now reports to the Paris-based International Epizootic Office (OIE) — the world’s animal health organization — if there is any detection of animal diseases such as BSE or foot and mouth disease (FMD).

“Only 19 cases of BSE have been detected in the Netherlands since 1997, meaning only slightly more than one cow per million annually,” Vooren explained.

The control of animal health in the Netherlands is based on the cattle identification and registration system. All Dutch farms are under compulsory supervision by roughly 2,200 highly educated veterinary practitioners.

“In slaughterhouses, the animals are examined regularly. The special risk material — for instance brains, eyes and the tonsils of cattle — are removed and incinerated,” said Vooren.

Asked about special training programs offered by the Netherlands in the agriculture sector, Vooren confirmed that a group of 12 officials from the Saudi Arabian Agriculture Bank (SAAB), drawn mainly from SAAB’s branches in Riyadh, Jeddah, Najran, Madinah and Hail, left for the Hague last month to attend a three-weeklong training session organized by the major Dutch agriculture training organization Stoas.