A SENIOR French agriculture ministry official yesterday questioned Europe's decision to partially lift a ban on certain British beef products, saying there was no guarantee that gelatin was free from the risk of BSE.
Mr Jean Francois Girard, head of the ministry's health department, said the possible transfer of the disease to humans should be taken seriously. "There are a rising number of factors" which go to prove "a form of transmissibility of BSE to humans".
The EU agreed on Wednesday to lift its ban on certain cattle derivatives - semen, tallow and gelatin - but the ban on meat remains in place.
But Mr Girard, commenting on a May report by a committee of experts on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies regarding gelatin usage, said Britain had not done enough to justify lifting the ban.
"In the absence of specific information on precise manufacturing conditions of gelatin, it is impossible for the committee to guarantee the absence of risk of orally administered gelatin from infected cattle," he said.
France is not opposed to lifting the ban on British cattle by products provided that precise conditions of treatment and control are observed, he said.
"At the moment Britain has not met those conditions," Mr Girard said. "Therefore the borders will not be opened from tomorrow to British gelatin."