Brussels - The European Union has given the United States a six month ultimatum to strengthen its meat hygiene controls or face a ban on exports, the European Commission said on Thursday.
EU veterinary experts have recommended suspending meat imports from the United States unless checks for hormones and antibiotics were beefed up.
"The U.S. would have six months to increase their levels of control. If this doesn't happen.., the recommendation would be to ban fresh meat and poultry," a spokesman for EU Consumer Health Commissioner Emma Bonino said.
"We have set a deadline of six months," Filippo di Robilant told the Commission's daily press briefing.
He said EU veterinary officers had found that insufficient checks were being carried out on U.S. meat for levels of "residues" -- hormones and antibiotics.
"The problem is at the control level," he said.
In an unpublished report, the vets said their criticisms should be sent to Washington for comment and another EU inspection team sent to assess improvements.
"In view of the severity of the present situation, if no improvements are made by the U.S. authorities, or if the follow-up mission finds the improvements unsatisfactory, the Food and Veterinary Office would have to recommend the suspension of at least fresh meat, and poultry meat from the USA," the report concluded.
The news is likely to aggravate already fractious trade relations between Brussels and Washington, and is the latest in a series of spats over agriculture and food safety.
The EU already bans some U.S. beef exports which are hormone-treated, a stance that has caused the EU to fall foul of the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation.
And last week, the United States said it planned to restrict imports of cattle, sheep and some livestock products from 21 European nations over fears of mad cow disease or BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy).
That decision brought an angry reaction from Brussels, with Gerry Kiely, spokesman for EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler, calling it "disproportionate" and "not well-founded."
Kiely also questioned the motives behind Washington's move, given its timing and lack of prior consultation with the EU.
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