Do the countries that have banned the import of American beef after the discovery of mad cow disease in the United States lack the laboratories capable of examining meat shipments and determine whether it is fit for human consumption?
The question came to mind when I read that the authorities at Jeddah Islamic Port responded by detaining a shipment of American beef and sending it to be examined at the port quality control laboratory. Many continue to be concerned and puzzled over the official silence about our country’s position on the import of US beef.
At a time when the whole world is trying to ward off any threat by banning US meat, we continue to sleep soundly as if the matter did not concern us and as if we were somehow naturally immune to Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, the human form of BSE.
Is the quality control laboratory at Jeddah port qualified to examine the shipments of American beef infected with the disease? Even if it does have the capability to do so, the question remains whether the authorities are going to examine every bit of meat or carry out random checks only?
It would be much better if we took the necessary precautionary measures, as did other countries, many of which are much more advanced than the Kingdom in laboratory testing. In all those countries the authorities moved quickly to protect the health of their citizens. We should have done the same instead of leaving the matter in limbo.
There was also a statement by the deputy minister of agriculture, Abdul Aziz Al-Shitri, who said there was no need to ban the import of live American cows since there are no imminent shipments on their way to the country right now.
That statement raised more questions than it answered.
Does the deputy minister mean that Saudi traders may immediately start importing American cows since the relevant authorities here would only deal with shipments about to arrive at our ports? What would the authorities do when the cow shipments arrived — would they release them and allow it to enter the country or would they ban them? Would they quarantine the animals until they die?
If so, why make traders incur huge losses importing the animals simply because there are no clear policies governing such cases?
A lot of trouble and financial losses would have been avoided if there had been a clear policy from the beginning and if there was an explicit decision banning the import of animals whenever suspicion arises.
The officials should stop their hesitation and passivity when addressing matters concerning the health of the citizens of this country; they should immediately ban the import of US meat. We want to feel that decisions are taken in the interest of the public and not for commercial considerations.
