May 20, 2008

Majority of EU states oppose lifting ban on US poultry
 

The European Commission is contemplating to lifting the 11 years-long ban on US poultry but their proposal is facing fierce objections from a vast majority of EU states.

Agriculture ministers from 21 of the EU's 27 countries opposed the idea of lifting the ban at a meeting in Brussels while the remaining countries did not express any position, according to an official.

France, the EU's biggest poultry producer, is leading the opposition.

The US is free to do what they want but the EU consumers have other demands that do not include a brutal disinfection at the end of the production chain, according to French agriculture minister Michel Barnier.

The EU banned US poultry in 1997 due to the US practice of chlorine washing to kill off bacteria, including salmonella. The issue has long been a thorn in EU-US trade relations.

EU veterinary experts favour hygiene controls throughout the hatching to rearing cycle to better ensure that the bacteria do not develop in the first place.

However, a new European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) study released last month found that the four antimicrobial substances used in the US for cleaning poultry carcasses will not pose health risks if used within proposed conditions of use. The new findings serve as a basis for the prospect of lifting the ban.

EU Health Commissioner Androula Vassilou said she considered current arrangements to be appropriate and that the EU has a very good hygienic process in the production chain.

Vassilou is obliged to produce a proposal but she said it would be strictly based on available scientific information and that input from member states' experts would be considered.