St. Lucia Moves Against Foot and Mouth Disease

Contact: John Emmanuel

Thursday, March 1, 2001 - Amid growing international concern about the possible spread of the dreaded Foot and Mouth Disease from Europe to other countries, the St. Lucia Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is assuring St. Lucians it is doing everything possible to protect the local livestock industry and the health of St. Lucians.

Foot and Mouth Disease recently surfaced in Britain on the heels of the so-called Mad Cow Disease which prompted several countries to restrict the importation of beef and related products from Britain and other affected European countries, as well as countries whose livestock industries import live animals from Europe.

Agriculture Minister, Hon. Cassius Elias, noted that in response to the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease, St. Lucia had introduced restrictions on meat imports from Europe, Central and South America. He added that the Ministry is actively considering restrictions on importation of meats from the United States.

"Although (the United States has) not declared that they are infected with Foot and Mouth or Mad Cow Disease, we know that often meat products are exported to the United States and then re-exported to the Caribbean," Mr. Elias said.

"…We have been speaking with the Customs Department, the Ministry of Health and our own officers in the Ministry’s Veterinary Division to encourage them to be more thorough in their examinations of the documents of origin," the minister added.

Mr. Elias said the concerns over the safety of European meat products presented an opportunity for St. Lucian and other CARICOM producers to go after a larger share of the regional meat market.

"It gives us an opportunity to deal more with our CARICOM partners especially Jamaica which has tremendous capacity in beef production," he said. "It also gives us an opportunity to enlarge our production and to encourage our producers to produce more of what I call wholesome meats and I hope that the local population will grasp the opportunity to use more local meats so that we can sustain ourselves."

The Agriculture Minister appealed to St. Lucians travelling abroad not to attempt to smuggle meat into the country but to declare all meat products to customs officials for examination on their return home. He said through this practice the pink mealy bug and varroa mite had entered St Lucia and caused significant damage to plant and animal life.

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