The Economic Impact of BSE on the UK Beef Industry

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a disease of cattle first identified in the UK in 1986. Although no conclusive proof has been presented for or against a link between BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a similar disease which occurs in the human population, or of the transmission of BSE to people by consuming beef from BSE-infected cattle, the link has nevertheless been created in consumers’ minds (Consumers’ Association, 1990). Considerable press coverage and the adoption of the provocative title of mad cow disease’ at the time when the disease was first identified raised the profile of the problem among British consumers and also consumers in countries importing British beef. In the short term public perception and the actions of some governments in restricting imports of British beef created a major economic impact on the UK beef industry. Some nine years on the BSE problem still exists and although it does not have as high a profile in people's minds the legacy of public perceptions and consumer demands in the UK and elsewhere still influence the market for British beef. This paper reviews the economic consequences for the industry of this animal health problem.