EU to appeal against WTO beef ruling

05 September 1997

EU to appeal against WTO beef ruling

THE European Union (EU) will appeal against the World Trade Organisation
ruling that its ban on hormone-treated meat is illegal under free trade
rules.

It is likely to precede the next meeting of the WTOs appeals committee. This
will probably be later this month.

The trade body will then have up to 90 days to issue a final ruling.

The EU could be forced to pay compensation to the US for lost trade if the appeal fails.

The ban has cut sales of beef from the US to EU countries to between $100 million
and $250m (£60m-160m) a year, according to the US industry.