Farmers in Northern Ireland have expressed their disappointment that beef exports have been "temporarily suspended" after a visit by European inspectors querying a failure in the computer-based cattle-tracing system.
The North's Department of Agriculture imposed the temporary ban on Monday after the meat of 19 cattle not eligible under the system which ensures meat is free from BSE contamination was exported by mistake.
The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, said yesterday the British government was doing everything it could to convince the EU Commission that beef from the North was the safest in Europe. "No stone will be left unturned to ensure that trading continues under the Export Certified Herds Scheme," she said.
According to the North's Department of Agriculture, the error in the computer system has been rectified. The system runs a database logging 1.5 million cattle. It is also understood the cattle involved would have been too young to be infected with BSE.
However, the EU inspectors have demanded additional guarantees that ensure all future shipments come from BSE-free herds. A number of measures were to be introduced over the course of the year but the EU now wants them in place before exports can be resumed.
Mr Will Taylor of the Ulster Farmers' Union said the development represented a severe setback for the industry. "We are bitterly disappointed. As an industry we have been looking forward to having a greater pool of cattle available under the date-based export scheme. This quite clearly looks as if it is now in limbo."
The European inspectors last week travelled to Belfast for three days to examine measures put in place to prevent a repeated breach. After examining the computerised tracing system - unique to Northern Ireland - the inspectors are understood to have asked for new security measures, including the possible double-tagging of cattle due to be introduced in September to be implemented immediately and no exports to be made until then.
Representatives from the North's beef industry, farmers, unions and processors were called to the Department on Monday to be told of the suspension. A statement issued after the meeting read: "It is in all our interests to co-operate fully to satisfy the Commission."
Dialogue between the Department of Agriculture (NI) and the EU Commission continues this week. According to a department spokesman the aim is to secure the continuation of exports from Northern Ireland while any new measures are introduced.
The Permanent Secretary at the at the North's Department of Agriculture, Mr Peter Small, said the department would be doing its best to resolve the matter with utmost speed but warned that it might take weeks to lift the ban.
"Some of the improvements can be put in place within a matter of days, but it is impossible to put the entire package in place, we believe - and this is an early estimate - any earlier than July."
"We will be in dialogue with the Commission over the next few days with one objective, that is to get this put to bed very, very quickly, because essentially the longer this goes on the harder this becomes to resolve," he added.
Mr Small said that when the inspectors left Northern Ireland it appeared they were satisfied with the correction to the system. However, their superiors in Brussels were "more nervous" and wanted further action taken.