The test used in Japan to identify BSE in calves is useless and unscientific, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

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Bernard Vallat, director general of the OIE, “told the visiting LDP lawmakers the organisation does not support the inclusion of young cattle in such testing regimes, and the goal of merely reassuring consumers is a political consideration,” according to a report in the local Asahi Shimbun newspaper.


The testing programme has so far identified three calves with mad cow disease.


In Europe, where the OIE is headquartered, BSE tests are not carried out on calves because they are not considered at risk from contracting the disease.

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