European court declares French ban on British beef illegal
In a preliminary ruling made last week, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg declared France's ban on British beef illegal. The court said France was in direct contravention of European Union law by barring direct imports of beef from the UK.
The ruling was the latest twist in a tale that has dragged on since 1999 when the European Commission (EU) lifted its EU-wide ban on British beef, which had been imposed in 1996 to prevent the spread of BSE. In defiance of EU law, France decided to keep its ban in place, citing the findings of its own scientific experts who suggested that UK beef was still not safe. Though France has never denied the illegality of its actions, it has steadfastly refused to budge on the issue, arguing that in matters of food health and safety no EU state can be expected to ignore the research of its own national experts.
As the preliminary findings are designed to guide the European Court judges, it is likely that France will be forced to fall into line when the final ruling is taken at the end of the year. In real terms, however, the ruling will make little difference as British meat exports are in any case banned because of foot and mouth disease.
According to UK statistics, so far this year there have been 468 cases of BSE. This compares with 1,355 recorded last year. Next year’s figure is expected to fall below the 300 mark as control measures introduced over the last decade continue to take effect. By contrast, the incidence of BSE on mainland Europe is rising. So far this year there have been 95 cases in Germany - up from the seven recorded last year while in France there have been 152 cases so far this year, from 162 last year and 30 in 1999.
In a separate development, the US Department of Agriculture has banned all imports of livestock and livestock products from Japan, following a suspected case of BSE in a five year old dairy cow in Chiba Prefecture.
