P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News Staff

JEDDAH, 27 December 2003 — Some 85 percent of American beef imported to the Kingdom is re-exported to Iraq and Kuwait to meet the needs of US forces, Al-Watan Arabic daily reported yesterday quoting Saudi importers.

“American beef consumption in the Kingdom is comparatively low and our company re-exports the product to US bases” in the two neighboring countries, said Ali Al-Sinan, production manager at Al-Zamil Meat Factory.

He said he expected a Commerce Ministry ban on American beef today following reports of an outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States. However, he said thousands of tons of the product were already on their way to Saudi ports from the US.

Sinan said his company’s losses from a temporary ban would be small as it would be able to divert the shipments directly to the Iraqi port of Basra. The measure would only increase the cost of shipping.

Sinan ruled out the possibility of withdrawing US beef products from outlets in the Kingdom. “We supplied them after conducting the necessary tests at the Commerce Ministry laboratories,” he said.

A Commerce Ministry official said his ministry would issue the ban only after consultation with the Food Safety Authority. He did not expect the ministry to take hasty decision on the matter as only one case of the disease had been reported.

The ministry has alerted customs laboratories at all entry points to intensify their scrutiny of US beef products entering the country following the discovery of the disease in the United States.

Saudi Arabia imports about 70,000 tons of beef from America every year at a cost of between SR500 million and SR1 billion. The Saudi market relies more heavily on locally slaughtered fresh meat.

Fast-food restaurants as well as some major hotels rely on American beef for hamburgers and steaks.

Prince Mishaal ibn Khaled, chairman of Riyadh International Food Company, said 80 percent of raw material used in their restaurants came from within the Kingdom. The Riyadh International Food Company and Riza Food Services Company own 76 McDonalds restaurants, Al-Watan said.

The manager of the Steak House in Jeddah denied reports his restaurant was using American beef. “We get beef from Fursan which imports the product from Australia,” he added.

Restaurants said their customers were not asking which beef they were using, adding many people in the Kingdom were still not aware of the outbreak of mad cow disease in the US.

A British veterinary laboratory yesterday confirmed that the infected cow from a meat-packing firm in the northwestern state of Washington had bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

At least 27 countries, including top importers Mexico and Japan, have now barred US beef imports, dealing a massive blow to the multibillion-dollar industry that directly employs one million people.

The United Arab Emirates announced on Thursday that it has banned imports of US livestock and related products. According to official figures published by the Gulf News daily the UAE imports 1,808 tons of US beef annually.