The results show that Croatia remains free of mad cow disease, said Branko Sostaric, head of the Croatian Veterinary Institute's laboratory for spongiform encephalopathies in animals.
The most important thing for consumers is that meat in Croatia was and is healthy for eating, he underlined.
Asked by the press in how many cases tests conducted at Weybridge were negative after having been positive in national laboratories, as was the case with three tests in Croatia, Sostaric said the percentage of such cases was considerable.
He added, however, that his laboratory was completely safe and that it was impossible to have a falsely negative test on mad cow disease.
The agriculture minister said the method being applied in Croatia absolutely ruled out the possibility of a positive test passing as negative.
Speaking of all developments related to a recently discovered suspicious cow, Cobankovic said there existed many forms of abuse within the system.
"The system is well conceived, well set, but unfortunately there are individuals who try to abuse it," he said, adding that measures were being taken to prevent that and that those who had engaged in criminal activities would be punished.
Cobankovic said his ministry would put the entire beef trade under supervision, employ another 50 veterinary inspectors, and adopt by June a set of regulations on the retail meat trade.