Washington ? The Agriculture Department is cutting its tests for mad cow disease by about 90 percent, drawing protests from consumer groups.

The current testing level – 1,000 each day – reflects the heightened concern that followed the discovery in December 2003 of mad cow disease in the United States.

Since then, tests have turned up two more cases of the disease, known medically as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. The government says there may be a handful of undetected cases.

“It’s time that our surveillance efforts reflect what we now know is a very, very low level of BSE in the United States,” Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Thursday. “There is no significant BSE problem in the United States, and after all of this surveillance, I am able to say there never was.”

Critics say now is not the time to scale back on the testing, which has cost the government an estimated $1 million per week.

“It surely will not encourage consumers in the U.S. or Japan to rush to the store to buy more beef,” said Carol Tucker-Foreman, food policy director for Consumer Federation.

A second group, Consumers Union, advocates testing every animal slaughtered in the United States.

The current level of 1,000 tests each day represents about 1 percent of the 35 million cattle slaughtered annually in this country. Beginning around late August, the new level will be about 110 tests per day.

Johanns said he hoped the reduction would not affect negotiations on resuming beef trade with Japan, which has pushed for the same number of tests or more. Japan was a huge consumer of U.S. beef before the first American case of mad cow disease.