. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/1038 
13 August 2010 
 
 (10-4315) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
ANALYSIS OF RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH BSE IN ARGENTINA 
 
Communication from Argentina
 
  
 The following communication, received on 12 A ugust 2010, is being circulated at the request 
of the delegation of Argentina
. 
 
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ANALYSIS OF RISK FACTORS LINKED TO BSE IN ARGENTINA 
 
1. Argentina wishes to inform Memb ers that the "Analysis of Risk  Factors Associated with BSE 
in Argentina" is now available for consultation.  The document in question was prepared jointly by 
experts from the National Agriculture and Food Qu ality and Health Service (SENASA), the National 
Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA),  the Foundation for Action against Childhood 
Neurological Diseases (FLENI)
1 and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on 
Agriculture (IICA), under the coordination of the IICA. 
2. Pursuant to the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code, the BSE risk status of a country's cattle 
population should be determined on the basis of th e outcome of a risk assessment identifying all 
potential factors for BSE occurrence and their histor ic perspective.  The Terrestrial Code also 
provides that the risk assessment should be reviewed  annually to determine whether the situation has 
changed. 
3. In accordance with the OIE provisions, Argentina keeps its BSE risk assessment up to date in 
order to uphold and maintain its OIE -recognized negligible BSE risk status. 
4. The document made public by Argentina comprises a review for the period 2006-2008.  It is 
currently available only in Spanish, although  an English version is soon to follow. 
5. The Analysis of Risk Factors Associated w ith BSE in Argentina has been updated in 
accordance with Terrestrial Code guidelines pertaini ng to the assessment of the risk of release and 
exposure, and other Terrestrial Code requirements,  such as the existence of an epidemiological 
surveillance system and an awareness programme. 
6. Hence, the document describes the component s of the Programme for the Prevention and 
Surveillance of Transmissible Spongiform Encephal opathies (TSEs), launched in 1990, and the main 
activities conducted within this framework. 
                                                      
1 FLENI is a public welfare institution specializing in neurological disease prevention, diagnosis, 
treatment and research.  For further information go to http.//www.fleni.org.ar . G/SPS/GEN/1038 
Page 2  
 
  7. The conclusions drawn include the following: 
(a) The risk posed by imported animals is neg ligible or non-existent given the extremely 
low number of animals imported over the last seven years from countries with BSE cases or at risk of BSE, and the fo llow-up, monitoring and end use given to 
these imported animals; 
(b) the climate and geographical extent of Argentina make it possible to rear large 
populations of cattle and sheep on pasture alone, given its year-round availability; 
(c) the geographical separation between the country's cattle and sheep populations 
significantly reduces the risk of the infection being transmitted directly from one species to the other; 
(d) virtually all cattle are slaughtered in offici ally controlled meat-packing plants and are 
subject to official ante-mortem inspection; 
(e) each year, a large number of cows are slaughtered at an age where the BSE virus 
would be detected if it were present in Argentina; 
(f) for economic reasons, the rendering process constitutes only one part of the 
slaughterhouse waste disposal system.  The total volume of meat and bone meal 
produced in Argentina is considerably lowe r than in other countries with smaller 
cattle populations; 
(g) the practice of adding ruminant-derived prot eins to ruminant feed has been banned 
since 1995;  feeding ruminants with protei ns derived from mammals has been banned 
since 2002;  feeding ruminants with animal proteins has been banned since 2004; 
(h) an official system for monitoring compliance with the animal feed ban has existed for 
more than seven years and serves to ensure that the ban is effectively enforced;  and 
(i) Argentina meets the conditions for negligible  risk of BSE under the Terrestrial Code 
and is recognized by the OIE as having that status. 
8. The full report is available on request from SENASA: 
Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (SENASA)  
Unidad de Relaciones Internacionales  
Tel.: +(54 11) 4121 5353 
Fax: +(54 11) 4121 5360 E-mail: relint@senasa.gov.ar
 
 
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