September 13, 2007

FMD outbreak pushes EU to ban British meat and livestock exports anew

Barely a day after Brussels allowed Europe to reopen its market for meat and livestock exports from the United Kingdom, the European Union has immediately suspended all British meat and livestock products following a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the country on Wednesday (September 12).

The suspected case of FMD was found at a farm in Egham, near Surrey, about 30 miles from Pirbright, the site of an earlier outbreak of the disease at a beef farm in August.

The decision to reopen the UK's meat export markets to the rest of Europe was taken by EU veterinary experts on Tuesday (September 12).

This did not include meat from animals within the surveillance zone set up in Surrey in the wake of the original two FMD outbreaks. This meat would still be banned until November 9, to protect the official "FMD-free" status of other EU countries.

On Wednesday, however, the EU's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, currently in session in Brussels, instantly reversed Tuesday's decision.

In a statement, the Committee said UK authorities have confirmed of a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease close to the previous occurrences.

Precautionary measures are already being put in place by the UK authorities, such as movement restrictions around the suspected outbreak in case the disease is confirmed. Further investigations are now being carried and more information will be released before the week ends, the Committee said.

Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has already blocked the movement of cattle from the suspected area and set up a temporary six-mile control zone around the farm. Defra has also ordered a pre-emptive slaughter in the area while laboratory test results are awaited, a statement said.

This is the fourth incident of the outbreak of the highly transmissible virus in one month in Britain. Dozens of cattle were culled in August on fears that the disease could spread nationwide, causing massive losses for farmers. It was followed by the restriction of the export of livestock, meat, and dairy products from the UK, which was removed just a day before.