Insufficient controls are in place to prevent a repeat of the BSE crisis, an influential committee of MPs has concluded.

In its report published on Tuesday, the Commons public accounts committee found that British systems for tracing cattle are more expensive and less efficient than those used in other European countries.

Serious difficulties have been experienced in terms of access, ease of use and adaptability of the system, which was developed "in haste", MPs argued.

Already, £14 million in penalties have been imposed by the European Commission as a result of problems, with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs estimating that this could rise to as much as £50 million.

"There is an urgent need for improvement in Defra's systems for tracking livestock," said committee chairman Edward Leigh.

"The cattle tracing system in particular is inefficient, overly burdensome, and based on obsolete technology.

"And it does not fully meet the needs of state veterinarians to control outbreaks of infectious diseases amongst cattle, which is all the more unacceptable given that it was introduced in response to the BSE crisis in the 1990s."