THE BSE Inquiry Report "must mark a watershed in the way we deal with food safety issues in the future," is the initial response from National Farmers' Union president Ben Gill.

The report sets out clearly the mistakes that were made - they must never be made again, he said.

"This has been an exhaustive and important inquiry, particularly for the victims of vCJD and their families. Farmers have co-operated fully at every step of the way. British agriculture has turned itself inside out to learn from this tragedy."

Mr Gill added: "The report concludes that BSE developed into an epidemic as a result of the recycling of animal protein in ruminant feed. That is a traditional practice throughout the world. It has now stopped in the UK. Many lessons have already been learned - we are applying these lessons every day. But we will study the report carefully to identify any further necessary procedures."

Agriculture Minister Nick Brown, in his statement to the House of Commons, described BSE as a "national tragedy". To date, there have been 85 definite or probably cases of vCJD reported in the UK and of those 85, 80 have died. Mr Brown expressed deepest sympathy to the victims and their families.

He said there were "a number of shortcomings in the way things were done."

"At the heart of the BSE story lie questions of how to handle hazard, a known hazard to cattle and an unknown hazard to humans. The Government took measures to address both hazards. They were sensible measures, but they were not always timely, nor adequately implemented and enforced."

He added: "The Government did not lie to the public about BSE. It believed the risks posed by BSE to humans were remote. The Government was preoccupied with preventing alarmist over-reaction to BSE because it believed the risk was remote. It is now clear the campaign was a mistake."

The minister said: "Even now, there are some questions about BSE which are unresolved. We do not know with certainty how the disease entered the cattle herd, nor why it has been so predominantly a disease affecting this country.

"Lord Phillips' conclusion is that the origin of BSE is likely to have been a new prion mutation in cattle, or possibly sheep, in the early 1970s."