What Is a Certificate of Absence of BSE?

It certifies that the product is protected from Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)*, also known as “Mad Cow Disease”. Cosmetics must not be manufactured, processed, or otherwise contain prohibited bovine materials. These materials include specific risk material, material from non-ambulatory bovine animals, material from bovine animals that have not been examined or transmitted from parent to child, or mechanically separated beef. Forbidden materials for cattle do not include tallow, which contains no more than 0.15 percent of insoluble contaminants, tallow derivatives, and leather-derived products, as well as milk and dairy products.

A full list of prohibited ingredients can be found on the U.S. FDA website: www.fda.gov.

A certificate of absence of BSE issued by a cosmetics association such as the ACMA confirms that the products on the list do not contain prohibited materials and that the manufacturing process and packaging are equally free of contaminants.

Subsequently, the certificate of absence of BSE can be certified, authenticated, and legalized or certified and apostilled for use abroad.

Bovine Exoneration Certificate (BSE) + apostille with one-day service cost $150 per certificate. No annual fee.

* Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) belong to a group of progressively degenerative neurological disorders known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). Diseases caused by TSE are characterized by long incubation periods, from several months to several years. There are no visible signs of the disease during the incubation period. In 2008, the FDA published a regulation prohibiting the use in animal feed of tissues that pose the highest risk of ingesting the pathogen that causes BSE. These materials for high-risk cattle include the brain and spinal cord of cattle aged 30 months and older. The 2008 rule also prohibits the use of whole bovine carcasses that have not been examined and delivered for human consumption, unless the cattle are less than 30 months old or their brains and spinal cords have been removed.

A BSE-Free certificate + apostille with one-day service cost 150 USD per certificate. No annual fee.

- Description: Brain. The red box indicates the region of adipose bone. This is part of the brain to be tested to diagnose bovine spongiform encephalopathy and other spongiform encephalopathies, such as scrotum disease and chronic wasting.

- Source: Dr. S. Sorden, Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Pathology fish.estate