Britain is granted F&M free status

25 January 2002




Britain is granted F&M free status

By Philip Clarke

Europe editor

BRITAIN has regained its international foot-and-mouth free status with immediate effect, marking another step towards market normality.

Animal health watchdogs at the International Office of Epizootics (OIE) in Paris decided on Tue, Jan 22 that the UK had done enough to stamp out F&M and no longer posed a threat to other countries.

Their decision followed an hour-long presentation by UK vets, who explained there had been no cases of F&M since September and serological testing had be completed.

"That testing was crucial," said one UK official. "The OIE code is clear there must have been no F&M for three months, but it is more vague on the level of surveillance. The extensiveness of our programme, which included 100% testing in Northumberland and Cumbria, must have impressed them."

Farmer groups have given an enthusiastic response to the OIEs decision, which should now enable non-EU countries to lift their bans on UK livestock, meat and dairy products. Some had feared that disease-free status would not be granted until the OIEs next F&M meeting in May.

"It is great news that this has happened so quickly," said NFU president, Ben Gill. "We must now get international exports moving quickly, so this global stamp of approval translates into positive economic benefits."

But Meat and Livestock Commission export manager, Peter Hardwick, has warned that it will not happen automatically. "The OIE is not a law making body," he said.

Other officials agreed that, while it would be hard for any of the OIEs 158 member countries to disregard the ruling, it could still take many months for them to re-open their borders.

MLC staff have already started contacting former buyers in non-EU countries, explained marketing director Richard Lowe, to inform them of the change in the UKs status and encourage them to start trading again.

The most significant business in this respect is the trade in pigmeat and breeding pigs to the US, Japan, Hong-Kong, South East Asia, Russia and central Europe. Pigmeat sales to these destinations accounted for over £30m of export earnings in 2000, while the MLC estimates the breeding sow trade at between £30m and £60m.

The key for many British farmers, however, will be whether Brussels now gives the go-ahead for the resumption of live sheep exports to the EU – the only remaining restraint on intra-community trade.

EU vets meet again on Feb 5 and the latest reclassification by the OIE should be helpful. "It will not be a rubber stamping job," said the UK official. "There could still be problems with some member states who think it is all too soon. But the OIE ruling gives us another lever." &#42


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