The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has decided to outlaw the importation and domestic production of meat-and-bone meal, which is suspected of transmitting mad cow disease, ministry sources said Thursday.

The move will involve revising a ministry ordinance and will strengthen government clampdowns on the feed, which at present is controlled via "administrative guidance," which has no legal basis.

The same day, the ministry imposed a temporary ban on the domestic production, importation and distribution of MBM, and moved up the start date of an investigation into mad cow disease to Oct. 18.