British agriculture minister Douglas Hogg announced this week that the UK is to challenge the world-wide ban on British beef exports…

Date: 18/04/1996

...in the European Court of Justice. Hogg said the challenge would be based on a lack of scientific justification to support the restrictions. Hogg also said a programme of mass slaughter was not on the UK government's agenda. His challenge came a few days after Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler said in an interview he would be happy to eat British beef. But the Commission insisted it was “perfectly happy” the ban was legal.