May 26, 2008

EU's draft proposal of poultry ban lift raises US brow
 
 

The European Commission has drafted a proposal in regards to the lifting of the US poultry ban but the US may reject it due to the proposal's contents.

The draft proposal requires the US to rinse poultry that have been treated with anti-microbial and to label them as antimicrobial-treated poultry. The two conditions are opposed by the US poultry industry, as rinsing would increase production costs while labelling may dissuade EU consumers from purchasing US poultry.

The draft proposal also wants a two-year transition period for removing the ban, which contradicts the comments made last week by Daniel Price, assistant to the president of International Economic Affairs, who said the proposal would enable the ban to be removed by autumn.

High-level US officials have requested for a copy of the draft proposal for the interest of transparency, according to sources.

The proposal is also unlikely to win approval when it is formally submitted to the Council as 21 out of 27 EU agricultural ministers oppose the plan to lift the poultry ban.

The ban has kept nearly all US poultry out of the EU since 1997.