Court set to leave beef ban in place
Court set to leave beef ban in place
EUROPES Court of Justice seems set to reject the case brought by the NFU and MAFF claiming that the imposition of the worldwide ban on British beef exports was illegal.
Earlier this week the courts Advocate General gave his opinion that the ban, imposed by the EU Commission in Mar 1996, was valid. Although the final court ruling is not expected until later in the year, it would be unusual if it contradicted this initial opinion.
But, although disappointed, the NFU insisted that all was not lost. Deputy president Tony Pexton said: "We must remember where we are at the moment. Public confidence in beef is coming back …and we have proposals from the commission to start lifting the ban."
Original reasons
The original reasons for the challenge were now being overtaken by events, he added. Necessary health precautions had been put in place, consumption of British beef was increasing and the industry was making progress towards getting the ban lifted.
The Advocate General said that EU laws gave the commission wide powers to adopt measures to combat serious health hazards. The gravity of BSE, and the danger of its transmissibility to humans, constituted a real risk, so the decision to ban British beef exports was acceptable.
And banning sales worldwide, rather than just in the EU, was justified to ensure no British beef could be re-imported to the EU from Third countries.
Unfair discrimination
The NFUs claims that the commissions action was unfair discrimination against UK producers were also dismissed. The Advocate General said that with almost 98% of Europes BSE cases having been recorded in the UK, there was an objective reason for treating the country differently from other member states.
Farm minister Jack Cunningham said he noted the Advocate Generals opinion and would now await the final ruling of the court. But he pointed out that the case had been inherited when Labour took office in May, having been submitted by the previous administration.
Dr Cunningham said discussions with the commission were continuing with two ways to get the ban lifted – the certified herd scheme and a date-based scheme.n