(BRUSSELS) - EU nations on Wednesday reimposed a ban on meat and livestock from Britain after confirmation of a fresh outbreak of foot and mouth disease in southeast England, a European Commission spokesman said.

The decision to introduce a fresh export ban was taken after Britain's chief veterinarian confirmed a new case of foot and mouth disease near London, close to the site of last month's outbreak.

"The commission has been informed by the UK authorities today of a new outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Surrey, approximately 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of the outbreaks which occurred in August," the EU's executive arm said in a statement.

"This means that live animals susceptible to foot and mouth disease cannot be dispatched from Great Britain, nor can their products."

That lists includes all ruminants and pigs.

The commission said Britain was complying with all relevant EU directives, culling all animals in the infected holding and establishing a three-kilometre protection zone and 10-kilometre surveillance zone around the premises.

The decision to consider Britain a "high-risk zone" was imposed until October 15, subject to review.

Likewise no live animals can be sent to Britain from other EU nations.

Northern Ireland remains an exception and no ban was imposed on its livestock and meat exports.

Carmen Suarez, chief economist for Britain's National Farmers' Union, said the ban could cost all affected sectors two million pounds (2.8 million dollars) per day, with the EU making up 90 percent of Britain's beef exports.

She told AFP that the fresh outbreak and EU action would also affect third countries with the United States, for example, likely to renew its own three-month ban.

The EU decision came just a day after it had decided to lift the last remnants of the previous ban, deeming the outbreak over.

The decision to reimpose the ban was an emergency decision taken by the EU's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, which brings together veterinary experts from throughout the 27 nation bloc.

It was the same group which on Tuesday decided to lift the final restrictions on British meat and livestock exports, after deciding that "the outbreak has been successfully dealt with".

British farmers had breathed a sigh of relief before Wednesday's bad news.

A 2001 foot and mouth outbreak, which also evoked an EU export ban, cost the national economy about eight billion pounds (11.7 billion euros, 16.0 billion dollars), led to the culling of some 10 million animals and devastated the agriculture sector.

Now the earliest date that Britain can regain full disease free status, under World Organisation for Animal Health rules, is three months after the last foot and mouth case is diagnosed.

An official British investigation last week concluded that the earlier outbreak was probably caused by leaking drains, flooding and vehicles moving from nearby animal vaccine laboratories without pinpointing the exact source.

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