Croatian Beef Ban Removed Down Under

After a decade long ban, beef from Croatia will again be allowed to be exported to Australia and New Zealand after Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) recently ruled that the risk of catching brain-wasting disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was now “negligible”.

Ten years ago FSANZ imposed an import ban on fresh or frozen beef from Europe after the mad cow outbreak. Food Standards found that no cases of BSE have been confirmed in Croatia to date, and rated the country as a “controlled BSE risk”.

“FSANZ completed BSE food safety risk assessments for these countries and concluded that the BSE risk posed to consumers from the export of beef products from these countries is negligible,” Food Standards said in a statement.

“While meat from these countries can be imported, there are import certification requirements in place and in the case of Croatia, more stringent requirements.”