End to Anglo-French beef battle in sight

Date: 18/11/1999

By Simon Taylor

EU OFFICIALS are expecting a breakthrough in the battle to convince Paris to lift its ban on UK beef imports in time for an Anglo-French summit next week.

Hopes that France would agree to lift the ban within days rose this week after British officials offered to address French concerns on tracing beef from the farmyard to supermarket shelves and testing for animals incubating BSE.

UK meat industry representatives said that extra safeguards in these areas were possible provided the terms of the date-based export scheme, under which beef can now be sold in other EU member states, were not renegotiated.

They indicated that French demands for measures to ensure individual packs of meat could be traced back to specific animals could be met.

They also suggested that the UK would be prepared to introduce a new testing programme to detect BSE in animals before they show symptoms of the disease.

In addition, London is reported to have agreed that if a case of BSE occurs in an animal born after August 1996, when the UK imposed a total ban on animal feed containing meat and bonemeal, all the animals in that herd would be slaughtered.

Food Safety Commissioner David Byrne this week announced the start of infringement proceedings which could result in France being fined if it does not agree to end the ban. He also called on Germany to lift its restrictions.

Officials say a deal to settle the dispute could be announced when British Prime Minister Tony Blair meets French President Jacques Chirac and Premier Lionel Jospin in London next Thursday (25 November).