EU vets extend deadline for US to beef up hormone tests

Date: 10/02/2000

By Simon Taylor

EU VETERINARY officials decided this week to give the US an extra month to improve tests for hormone residues in meat or face a total ban on exports to the Union.

While a ban would only hit a small quantity of annual trade, the decision to delay action will help to calm transatlantic tensions at a time when the US Congress is putting pressure on its government to increase sanctions against the EU for its ban on imports of hormone-treated beef.

The Union's veterinary committee decided to extend the deadline for US meat exporters after EU inspectors found that "testing methods of the laboratories used still needed to be improved". The European Commission said in a statement that the US had given "strong assurances" that they would "immediately take actions to rectify the current weakness of their system". Food Safety Commissioner David Byrne said both sides were working towards a solution.

Following inspections last year which found that a large percentage of meat shipments from the US contained residues of illegal hormones, the Union threatened to introduce a blanket ban on American imports unless the authorities introduced more reliable testing methods.

While the delay has helped ease tensions between the two sides, it also means a further setback to hopes of finding a solution to the trade row over beef hormones which is costing EU exporters €116 million in penalty import duties. This is because the US meat industry has indicated that an increase in trade in hormone-free beef would compensate for the lost sales caused by the Union's ban on hormone-treated meat.

This week US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said she had asked a government body whether the sanctions against the Union should be 'rotated' or applied to other products. This would increase their impact because, once duties are applied, buyers tend to cancel orders indefinitely.

EU veterinary officials have decided to give the US an extra month to improve tests for hormone residues in meat or face a total ban on exports to the Union.