Italian farmers in BSE protest

The skull of a cow is hoisted by a farmer outside parliament in Rome

ROME, Italy -- Farmers pelted parliament with eggs and fire crackers in protest at government plans to cull herds of cattle where cases of mad cow disease is detected.

Hundreds of demonstrators threw eggs and oranges at the main door of parliament on Tuesday while some of the fire crackers were launched inside the entrance of the 17th-Century building.

The demonstrators had tried to get inside, witnesses said, but were stopped by guards.

Police in riot gear arrived later to help control the crowd.

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A delegation of farmers was later allowed inside to talk to politicians.

The farmers are opposed to a government decision seeking to destroy entire herds where a case of the brain-wasting disease is detected.

Italy has reported one confirmed native case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Authorities detected the disease this month in a six-year-old cow reared on a farm near Brescia in the northern region of Lombardy.

A second suspected case this month was found to be negative.

Beef consumption has slumped in Italy by as much as 70 percent following news of the confirmed BSE case.

Shoppers, ignoring ministers' assurances about the safety of beef, are turning to pork, poultry and fish, consumer groups have said.

Italy's cattle industry faces huge losses from the latest mad cow scare, estimated by industry group Federcarni at more than 300 billion lire ($142.5 million) so far.

The beef industry was dealt a further blow this week when European Union Food Safety Commissioner David Byrne said ministers had supported calls from scientists to remove the vertebral column from the food chain over fears it could contain the disease.

In a move with implications for the sale of T-bone steaks, he said he would make a proposal in the coming weeks, sticking "as closely as possible" to scientific advice that the vertebral column should be removed in countries where it could be shown that a ban on meat-based animal feed was not strictly enforced.

This could have a damaging impact on Italy's famous T-bone steak, the Fiorentina, a speciality in parts of the country.

Italian newspapers reported that ministers would ask for some cuts of meat, such as T-bone steaks, to be banned only if the cow is over 20-months-old.

The papers have been full of reports about the risk of the Fiorentina being banned. The Fiorentina is made from cuts from cattle between 17 and 22 months old.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Institutions of the European Union

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