Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) belong to a group of progressively degenerative neurological diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). TSE diseases are characterized by long incubation periods ranging from several months to several years.

There is no visible evidence of the disease during the incubation period. In 2008, the FDA published a regulation banning tissues that have the highest risk of transporting the agent that causes BSE in animal feed. These high-risk bovine materials are the brain and spinal cord of cattle from 30 months of age. The 2008 rule also prohibits the use of whole carcasses of livestock that have not been screened and transmitted for human consumption, unless the livestock are less than 30 months old or the brain and spinal cord have been removed. A BSE free certificate issued by a cosmetics association such as ACMA explains that the listed products do not contain prohibited materials and that the manufacturing process and packaging are equally pollution-free.

The BSE-free certificate can be certified, authenticated and legalized for use abroad, or certified and apostilled.