Slovenia first accession country to show lower BSE risk than most Member States
The Scientific Steering Committee (SSC), which advises the European Commission on BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) related issues, has published an opinion stating that BSE may possibly be found in Slovenian cattle herds, showing a lower risk than many EU Member State countries. Slovenia has been added to the list of countries already classified according to Geographical Risk of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (GBR). The country has been classified as GBR level II, the first accession country to be so classified. All other accession countries evaluated thus far have been classified as GBR level III (highest risk). All EU Member States have also been awarded GBR level III status, except for Sweden, Finland and Austria, which have been classified as level II. In the same report, Costa Rica was classified as GBR level I, and Kenya level II and Romanian GBR III.