May 7, 2008

EU may soon lift US poultry ban

The EU may lift its 11-year-old ban on imports of US poultry, EU Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry Gunter Verheugen said on Tuesday.

The EU banned imports of US poultry in 1997 due to the use of anti-microbial substances in the US, and debates in regard to the ban have been in a deadlock.

The only solution to this problem is the lifting of the ban, according to Verheugen.

Verheugen said the lack of clear political direction has allowed the ban to stay in force for years, a comment that appears to verify the US's long-standing claim that the ban was based on political reasons instead of scientific facts.

Verheugen also said there is now a strong political will to solve the issue and that he had made a commitment back in November 2007 to resolve it ahead of the EU-US summit in Slovenia in June.

Poultry is one of the 31 issues disputed by the EU and the US.

Failure to resolve the poultry problem is likely to affect other issues such as health care, biofuels, financial services, patents and cosmetics, according to Verheugen.

Verheugen declined to give a date on when the ban would be lifted.