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EU beef heading back to US as mad cow ban ends

04 November 2013, 16:06 CET
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EU beef heading back to US as mad cow ban ends

Photo Michael C. Berch

(BRUSSELS) - The EU will soon be able to re-start beef exports to the United States, which have been frozen since 1998 due to mad cow disease, the European Commission said Monday.

The European Union executive said a US Department of Agriculture ruling to bring US legislation into line with international standards equated to a "welcome, albeit late, step to abolish the unjustified ban."

Exports will be able to begin anew 90 days after publication in the Federal Register, the US official record of law.

A statement by the Commission added that "the EU expects that remaining import restrictions (in the States) on EU sheep and goat products will be lifted soon as well."

Mad cow disease -- officially known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) -- causes a brain-destroying disorder in humans, with Britain worst affected in the late 1980s and 1990s.

The sale of beef and other agricultural products is a bone of contention in EU-US negotiations towards an ambitious free-trade agreement.


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