Finland Times

 

The European Union here on Monday expressed welcome for the re-opening of the U.S. Market for imports of EU beef from January.

     

"We welcome the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) announcement that the US will progressively re-open its market to exports of beef from the European Union, starting with the Republic of Ireland," said EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, and Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan in a statement.

     

The EU commissioners said the re-opening of the market was a welcome first step to "abolish the disproportionate and unjustified U.S. Ban" that followed the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) crisis of the 1990s, and to re-establish normal trading conditions.

     

"This announcement sends an important and positive signal to the other EU Member States who have requested the US to re-establish access to the US beef market," said the statement, urging the United States to act expeditiously to extend the approval to the rest of the EU and to fully bring their import conditions in line with international standards.

     

"We call on our few remaining international trading partners who still maintain restrictive measures, to fully adopt recognized international standards,"  said the statement.

   

The US market has been closed to any EU beef, including deboned beef, since January 1998, when the US introduced import restrictions on beef, sheep and goats (ruminant animals) and their products on the basis of BSE concerns.