Call for UK beef ban to be lifted

Date: 11/06/1998

By Myles Neligan

THE European Commission this week proposed lifting its blanket ban on UK beef exports, imposed in March 1996 after London revealed evidence of a link between mad cow disease and a similar fatal illness in humans.

The Commission argues that deboned beef from animals born after 1 August 1996, the date on which it first became a criminal offence to feed cattle with potentially contaminated animal meal, should now be cleared for export subject to certain conditions.

“We feel that UK beef is safe. Otherwise we would not contemplate allowing it on to EU markets,” said Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler yesterday (10 June).

UK farmers and officials welcomed the move. “We have waited for this proposal for a long time and it's good to see some movement,” said a spokesman for the UK ministry of agriculture, pointing out that the British beef industry had lost nearly 2 billion ecu in export earnings because of the ban.

But EU governments must approve the Commission's proposal by qualified majority vote before exports can resume. National veterinary chiefs will scrutinise the proposal tomorrow (12 June) and may take a vote next Tuesday (16 June). If no majority in favour emerges, the issue will be referred to the 22 June meeting of EU farm ministers. However, Commission officials expect that it will be months before a final decision is taken.

The Commission this week also proposed to set the proportion of land that farmers must leave uncultivated to curb cereal overproduction next year at 10&percent;, and unveiled plans to adapt the EU agri-money regime to the single currency.