Speaking with the Bahama Journal Monday, Minister Gray said his Ministry is seeking the “legal instrument” required to impose the ban.
“The ban has not yet been officially implemented here in The Bahamas,” he said. “We are considering the imposition, but it will be announced formally as soon as the Attorney General’s Office can provide us with the necessary documents to arrive at that point. In addition to that, I would want to acquaint Cabinet members before making a decision so that the government is aware of what we are doing. We would also need to acquaint the US Embassy.”
The decision comes after US officials announced last week that a dairy cow in Washington state had contracted the country’s first known case of mad cow disease, known scientifically as Bovince Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) for the way it leaves a cow’s brain full of microscopic, sponge-like holes.
First appearing in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980’s, “mad cow disease” is said to be a brain wasting illness that is usually transmitted to cows via contaminated feed and has an incubation period in animals of four to six years.
A human disease – variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) was first identified in 1996 and linked to eating mad-cow contaminated meat and cattle products.
The recent discovery of the infected cow dealt a devastating blow to the flourishing American beef industry, with more than 20 countries already banning US meat, among them Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, China and the three top importers, Japan, Mexico and South Korea.
Jamaica and Trinidad also announced Monday their decision to impose an immediate ban on the importation of beef from the United States.
Minister Gray assured that the government was moving to ensure the safety of Bahamians.
“We will do what we must to protect the Bahamian people from any disease,” Minister Gray said.
The Bahamas imports millions of dollars worth of beef and beef products from the United States annually, much of which is distributed amongst various local fast food and supermarket chains.
Minister Gray has pointed out, however, that with a ban in place, The Bahamas would redirect its attention to securing beef from other countries like Argentina, New Zealand and Canada.
The world’s fourth largest exporter of beef, with the United States its largest customer, Canada too recently suffered an outbreak of mad cow disease resulting in many countries, including The Bahamas, banning beef from that nation.
Meanwhile, executives of City Markets Limited and DanBrad Limited, McDonald’s restaurants are hoping to allay any fears that the beef they provide may be contaminated.
“The meat we bring to The Bahamas is safe and there should be no reason for alarm,” said Michael Clayton, human resources manager at City Markets Limited.
He said, “We buy from Florida, Colorado and also from local vendors.
However, we certainly will follow any guidelines set by the Department of Agriculture, but it might cause a certain out of stock problem with certain kinds of cuts until we can be supplied with meat from a non-banned country.”
According to Mr. Clayton, City Markets stores have already posted notices stating that presently, the disease does not affect any of the meat purchased by the company.
Earla Bethel, owner of McDonald’s restaurants in The Bahamas, expressed similar sentiments on Monday, pointing out that the fast food chain “has always taken proactive measures to ensure that the food served at its restaurants is of the highest quality and standards.
But she said, “It is too soon to say how we would be impacted.. That all depends on our customers’ perception and confidence in believing that our beef is safe. I can certainly vouch that our beef is safe, which has already been verified.”
A recent McDonald’s corporate release revealed that “the situation [in the United States] has absolutely no connection whatsoever to the franchise or its suppliers.”
“McDonald’s has the most experienced comprehensive and trusted quality assurance programs in the world,” the Christmas Day release said. “In fact, our strict safety guidelines absolutely prohibit cows of this kind to ever enter our supply chain. McDonald’s has a long-standing, proven track record of ensuring a safe beef supply, including successfully protecting our food supply against BSE based on our experience around the world.”
But there are others who are not so confident.
“Once we heard this, we cancelled our order which was due in tomorrow (Tuesday),” said Rupert Roberts, owner of the Super Value food store chain. “We are not taking any chances.”
Normon Solomon, president and owner of the Solomon Group of companies which includes popular fast food chain Wendy’s, said Monday he was waiting to see what happens and what both the local and US experts will reveal.
“I am not an expert on this,” Mr. Solomon said. “Sometimes people jump the gun. But whatever is decided I will go with it.”
Minister Gray was expected to make a formal announcement on Wednesday regarding the ban
Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
