France Admits British Beef OK
Six Years After Imposing Ban

France has finally caved and admitted that British beef is safe to eat — six years after banning UK imports.

The country's food standards agency published a report saying UK beef no longer represents a danger to French consumers.

The move paves the way for a formal lifting of the ban by the French government, a move which would bring to an end one of the bitterest cross-Channel disputes for decades.

The head of France's powerful food standards agency, Martin Hirsch, said on French radio, "A decision can be taken on lifting the ban that would not put in danger the level of safety of meat guaranteed in France."

Full details of his organization's report were still to be published. France has stubbornly refused to lift the embargo until the agency gave it the go-ahead, despite rulings against it by the European Union and the threat of heavy fines for every day it remained in effect.

A legal case is still being heard at the European Court.

If France lifts the ban, it will be a victory for British farmers but one which has been achieved at a terrible cost.

Since British beef was first banned throughout Europe at the height of the BSE scare in 1996, the UK's share of the European market has slumped massively.

All EU nations except France agreed to restart British imports some time ago in the wake of a powerful set of safeguards and guarantees brought in by the government.

France, however, refused to comply with an EU directive issued in 1999 to restart imports.

Downing Street initially gave a cautious reaction to Hirsch's comments. Officials prepared to study the fine details of his organization's findings.

Tory agriculture spokesman and Euro MP Neil Parish said, "The French government want to find a way of getting themselves off the hook — but what I want to see is an unconditional surrender.

"This would be an admission that British beef is safe and that they don't put conditions on opening up their markets. We have got to have it properly lifted.

"We have got to sit down and find a way in which France really does pay compensation. Otherwise, this will carry on, and there's another problem looming: lamb."

Chief livestock officer for the National Farmers Union, Kevin Pearce, called the French move "very important".

He said, "This is very significant, although it won't lead to big exports overnight.

"I don't think we should underestimate the significance of the last stigma on British beef being removed from Europe."