EU lifts import ban on Argentinian provinces

19/01/2005

The European Union has lifted the ban on imports of de-boned and maturated bovine meat from the four Argentinian provinces of Formosa, Salta, Chaco and Jujuy. The ban was imposed in September 2003 after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease occurred in Salta.

 

No new outbreaks have been reported in Argentina for over 12 months and inspection missions carried out in 2004 have shown that the situation has been normalised in the area. The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health therefore agreed to a Commission proposal to resume the imports.

 

Beef imports from a 25-kilometre-wide ''buffer zone'' of Argentine territory along the border with Bolivia and Paraguay remain suspended. This is to avoid the risk of introduction of FMD from Bolivia and Paraguay back into Argentina.

 

FMD is an acute, contagious disease of cloven-footed animals marked by ulcers in the mouth and around the hoofs. It also reduces milk and meat production and jeopardises production.