Post history - 15 years ago: Guidance over 'mad cow disease'

The Loss Prevention Council is conducting research to give insurers guidance on the 'mad cow disease' BSE, as industry chiefs play down speculation that premiums could rise for meat eaters.

As the government reeled from a European ban on British beef imports, the cost of slaughtering all of Britain's cattle was put at more than £20bn, by the Meat and Livestock Commission.

Much of this would compose compensation for farmers, with additional costs due to job losses, restocking of herds and from making up the beef shortfall with imports.

Policies are available which allow holders to claim any shortfall between government compensation and the market value of an animal, although it could be some time before the ramifications are known. For public liability policies covering the supply of a defective product to be invoked, a connection between BSE and its human equivalent, CJD, would have to be scientifically proven and it would be difficult to establish that beef from any single supplier had caused a case of CJD.