The World Health Organization (WHO) has demanded that “all bans and restrictions in place for EU beef products worldwide be lifted as soon as possible”, following China’s decision to partially lift an embargo on imports of French de-boned beef.
The ban was introduced on all EU countries in 2000, following the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic crisis of the 90s, which resulted in import bans of several EU countries.
A European Commission spokesman told Meat Management that the lift is the result of “long-term European trade diplomacy” and the EU has “strict control and surveillance measures in place to ensure the safety of European beef”.
According to France’s agriculture minister, Stéphane Le Foll, the lift will apply to boneless meat from animals under 30 months of age and comes nine years after the World Organization for Animal Health’s decision to designate France as having “controlled risk” status for BSE, along with the UK, Ireland, Canada, Poland, Greece, Taipei and Nicaragua.
The spokesman added that the European Commission “continues to work for the full reopening” of markets, such as China, South Korea and Taiwan, where members states still face a number of prohibitions and restrictions related to the alleged risk of BSE.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
