January 13, 2011

Belarus bans German meat, animal feed on dioxin scare

Belarus has banned meat and animal feed shipments from Germany's state of Lower Saxony due to fears of dioxin contamination.

The temporary ban is effective from January 10, Yury Pivavarchyk, a departmental head at the Belarusian agriculture ministry. On January 3, German officials said that dioxin-tainted feed had been fed to hens and pigs, contaminating eggs and poultry meat at the affected farms.

The scare started after oils intended for biofuel had become mixed with oil destined for the animal feed. Mr Pivavarchyk said that Belarus had not shipped meat or animal feed from the northern German state or countries other than Germany, which goods contaminated with cancer-causing dioxin might have entered.

"We just play it safe," he said. The official played down the dioxin scare, saying that the excessive levels of the toxin had been revealed only in some samples of food.

The EU's standards are quite harsh and allow detecting a potential threat in good time, he said. Dioxins are toxins formed by industrial processes and waste burning. They have been shown to contribute to higher cancer rates and to affect pregnant women.