Commission to consider report on how to tackle BSE

The European Commission meets today to consider a report on whether the recent rise in BSE cases justifies curbs on imports of French cattle and beef and a ban on meat-based animal feed. The report is by EU scientific experts. The scientists, who were meeting in Brussels last night, were not expected to give details of their assessment in advance of this morning's meeting of the Commission.

The French government has responded to public disquiet over a sharp rise in BSE cases by banning T-bone steaks and meat-based animal feed. But a number of EU states have imposed unilateral bans on French beef imports.

EU agriculture ministers agreed last week that all government action in response to the crisis should be judged by EU scientists, and dropped if found to be unjustified.

A spokeswoman for the EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, said yesterday the Commission would decide on further action depending on the scientists' verdict.

"These scientific opinions are rarely clear-cut. It will be quite complex," she said.

The German government yesterday introduced a parliamentary bill that would ban all meat-based animal feed. German beef sales have fallen dramatically since the discovery last week of the first BSE cases in cattle of German origin.

Germany, France and Britain want an EU-wide ban on animal-based feed, which some scientists believe to be a cause of BSE. But other member-states are more cautious, warning that extending the existing ban from cattle and sheep to pigs and poultry could create new problems.

Austria's agriculture Minister, Mr Wilhelm Molterer, said such a move could lead to higher imports of protein-rich soya beans from the US, raising the issue of genetically modified crops.

"I can't just replace one emotional debate with another," he said.