April 25, 2008

 

No quick solution for EU, US poultry trade rift

 

 

A senior German government official on Wednesday (April 23) said the poultry trade row between Europe and US will continue as the EU chief is unlikely to get the bloc's support to settle a dispute over US chicken exports.

 

The EU banned imports of US poultry treated with antimicrobial agents in 1997 and the issue has been an irritant in trade ties.

 

EU Enterprise and Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen has been calling to end the dispute in time for a meeting in June of top-level EU and US officials to discuss ways of boosting the world's biggest trade relationship.

 

Gert Lindemann, Germany's deputy agriculture minister said Verheugen's position will require a "big change in EU food hygiene legistlation".

 

Lindemann added the problem cannot be solved "overnight or in the next four weeks."

 

Verheugen has said failure to resolve the issue could jeopardise attempts to reach consensus with Washington on other issues such as healthcare, financial services, patents, cosmetics and biofuels.

 

In a letter to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso this year, Verheugen said the EU should allow poultry imports from the United States while banning the use of the antimicrobial treatment in EU production.

 

Farm ministers from around 20 EU countries, at a recent meeting, opposed dropping the ban but Germany was keeping its position open, Lindemann said.

 

While the European Food Safety Authority has said it has no health concerns about the way the US treats its poultry meat with low-concentration chlorine washes, Lindemann said there are still some environmental issues to be looked into.

 

There was also opposition from within the EU's executive Commission where Verheugen's colleagues in charge of environmental and agricultural issues were against an end to the import ban, Lindemann said.