Inspectors visit UK to allay BSE plan fears

Date: 23/07/1998

By Myles Neligan

THE European Commission has agreed to send a team of veterinary inspectors to scrutinise standards and practices in the UK beef industry.

The move comes after national governments said last week that they needed more information before voting on the latest proposal to lift the March 1996 ban on UK beef exports.

The EU inspection team will leave next week, but since its report will not be ready until after the summer break, a final decision on lifting the export ban is now not expected until September at the earliest.

The Commission is calling for beef from animals born after August 1996, when certain rearing practices linked with the spread of 'mad cow' disease became a criminal offence in the UK, to be readmitted on to EU markets.

But response from national governments has been cool, with Germany strenuously opposing the proposal and only Ireland and Sweden firmly in favour. The others are all demanding clarification on how the scheme would work in practice before deciding which way to vote.

"A majority of member states still have misgivings about the scheme, but we are hopeful that this inspection will help allay their fears," said a Commission official.

National governments are seeking particular assurances over the UK's ability to trace the parents of animals which would be eligible for export, so as to guard against hereditary transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). They also want guarantees that export-certified beef would be processed in segregated slaughterhouses.

Previously, the Commission had resisted calls for an inspection mission to the UK, arguing that British facilities would be thoroughly inspected anyway once national governments approved the scheme. It now acknowledges, however, that this is the only way to answer member states' concerns about the proposal.

"Nearly all member states have raised questions about grey areas within the scheme. As we can't make any progress on this proposal until these points have been clarified, we agreed to carry out further inspections," said the official.

A qualified majority within the influential EU Standing Veterinary Committee, made up of chief veterinary officers from each of the 15 EU member states, must vote in favour of the plan for the ban to be lifted.

If the committee votes against, or fails to deliver a conclusive result, the matter will be referred to agriculture ministers for a final decision.