991113 EU Scientists Rule British Beef Is SafeNovember 3, 1999Brussels, Belgium - The European Commission's top scientists gave British beef a clean bill of health, unanimously rejecting evidence which France said supported an import ban over fears of mad cow disease. After days of cross-Channel tension, the ruling was a major victory for Britain. European Food Safety Commissioner David Byrne said France and Germany should now fall into line with the rest of the European Union and lift bans on British beef. "The Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) concluded unanimously that it does not share the concern expressed by the French Food Agency about the safety of meat and meat products exported by the UK," the Commission said in a statement. The EU's 16-member panel of scientists reaffirmed its confidence in the safety of Britain's Date Based Export Scheme (DBES), which it approved earlier in the year and which led to the decision to lift an worldwide ban on British beef on August 1 after more than three years. "The SSC concludes that, providing the safeguards built into the DBES are fulfilled, the safety of these UK-meat and meat products is comparable to these foods coming from elsewhere in the EU," the Commission, the EU's executive, said. Optimistic That Situation Can Now Be Resolved Only Germany and France have failed to implement this decision but Byrne told a news conference aid he was optimistic the situation could now be resolved fast. Byrne said he had already had contacts with the British, French and German governments and would contact the French and British agriculture ministers early next week. "I believe that the French and German authorities should take stock of the (scientists') opinion and lift their national restrictions on imports of British beef," he said. German Health Minister Andrea Fischer said there was no decision yet what action her government would take, but a discussion with the federal states was planned Wednesday. Sources close to French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, who was on an official visit to Guadeloupe, said the French government will outline its position early next week. "There will be talks between the different agencies concerned at the start of the week. There is no reason to take urgent measures. We will lay out our position after discussions early next week," an official travelling with Jospin said. The decision hands a political victory to British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a high-stakes gamble to let European institutions rule on the row instead of hitting France with the tit-for-tat trade war demanded by some opposition Conservatives. The British government quickly expressed delight with the ruling and said it would work to ensure exports can resume. "It is exactly what we hoped for and worked hard to achieve," Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a statement. "We will now keep up the work to make sure this decision is implemented and continue to help our farmers, to recover from the disaster of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy)." Uk Tabloids Frenzied, Government Cool The dispute over beef has spun out of the control of politicians, fuelled by a frenzy of anti-French sentiment in the British tabloid press. Passions have also run high in France, where Channel ports have been blockaded. But the British government has in recent days tried to cool emotions among a public outraged by revelations that some French cattle were given sewage in their feed. A messy fudge by the scientists or a decision against Britain would have caused more media hysteria and torpedoed Blair's new "Britain in Europe" campaign.
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