Reforms of the slaughter industry have come into effect in Finland and Australia. Evira, the Finnish Food Safety Authority, has said that new regulations permit more methods of slaughter.

These changes, Evira has stressed, will not impinge on the basic principles that, in being killed, the animal will not suffer unnecessary stress, discomfort or pain.

Small adjustments to abattoir procedure are expected with less stringent stipulations on measurement, number and time specifications for the killing of animals that prior legislation.

The reforms will bring in more specific codes of practice for the execution of different slaughter methods. The treatment of fur animals and past-laying hens will be the most affected by the new rules.

Live feeder and slaughter export markets in Australia are now regulated by government requirements that meet the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) guidelines. ESCAS is responsible for animal welfare throughout the supply chain. An export company must meet global animal welfare standards if it is to be granted permission to ship cattle abroad.

Joe Ludwig, Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Food, has said that this will mean the cattle export industry is now in line with international standards.

Meanwhile, Cambridge University scientists have discovered a strain of ST 398 MRSA in the UK for the first time.

Identified by testing bulk milk samples, the bacterium Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is killed by pasteurisation but industry workers are believed to be at risk from infection.

This revelation adds to concerns surrounding antibiotic usage on farms and the unintended consequences of animal treatments in agriculture. The Soil Assocation, a major organic food organisation, has criticised Defra for not implementing MRSA monitoring strategies and has said that the UK is not meeting European Food Safety authority targets.

The Egyptian Government has announced that it will not impose an import ban on Brazilian Beef. This is after a Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) scare caused widespread concern.

It was understood by Brazilian diplomats that the Egyptian government would impose either full or partial restrictions on beef imports due to a scare surrounding an animal on a cattle farm in Paraná in 2010 but the ministry has since reversed this decision.

The return of Egyptian confidence in Brazilian beef comes after a 2010 case of BSE was clarified as being a unique, undeveloped case and not a classic case.