EU beef must meet same standards as British meat

Cunningham warns EU

Gerrard Keiley, a spokesman for Franz Fischler the EU Agriculture Minister

Cunningham Threatens EU Beef Ban

In a defiant message to his EU partners, Dr Cunningham said it was "absurd" that beef which fell below stringent British safety controls was on sale in this country.

He also unveiled a swathe of new measures to clamp down on scrapie-infected sheep, including the compulsory slaughter of diseased animals.

But he said they were all "precautionary" measures and stressed there was no new scientific evidence linking mad cow disease with scrapie. Dr Cunningham insisted, "There is no evidence of BSE in the British sheep flock".

Dr Cunningham in belligerent mood

He said he was acting on the advice of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee. He said, "I am prepared to wait until the July agriculture council but in light of the advice I have received, if agreement is not reached by then I cannot justify any further delay. And we would then implement these regulations unilaterally in Britain."

The new controls would mean all beef imported into Britain - some 25% of the market - would have to comply with UK health standards, including the removal of heads, spinal cord and other tissues from cattle.

Sheep face precautionary measures

Within the UK, restrictions on sheep would be extended to include the removal of spleen and spinal cords from sheep over one year. Monitoring of scrapie will be stepped up, with the compulsory slaughter of infected animals. Restrictions will be brought in to cover slaughter houses responsible for handling infected sheep, and tougher inspections will be brought in to ensure the standards were complied with.

Professor Patterson of SEAC said the restrictions on sheep would not affect lamb but only animals over one year old - identified by the presence of incisor teeth. "We have never been worried about lamb, we are worried about older sheep," he said.

Part of the British herd

He said, "This is no game. This is no bluff. I'm in earnest in making this announcement. The draft orders are in my briefcase. It's nothing to do with protectionism, it's based on very important advice to safeguard public health.

"I could not come into office and say I was banning foreign imports but, now I have got advice from SEAC, I can act." He added he believed there was strong support for Europe-wide restrictions among most member states, even though agreement had proved hard to reach.

And he said he had already warned EU commissioners Franz Fischler and Emma Bonino of his moves. Professor Patterson said the committee's advice to the Government had changed in light of the EU's failure to reach agreement on the tougher controls on sheep and beef imports.

Sir David Naish welcomes the move

"It is only right"

Speaking on BBC radio, the president of the farmers union, Sir David Naish, welcomed Mr Cunningham's announcement by saying it would help ensure "consumer confidence" in British sheep. He said that British beef was "of exceptionally high quality and it is only right that the rest of Europe follows the same strict BSE controls as we do".