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Gill calls for ban on German beef

- 06 February 2001
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6 February 2001



Gill calls for ban on German beef

By Alistair Driver

FARMERS leader Ben Gill has called for a ban on beef exports from Germany in the event of further lapses in German BSE controls.

Mr Gill, president of the National Farmers Union, said hard-earned consumer confidence in British beef could be damaged if more breaches come to light.

Robust control systems were needed, he told delegates at the NFU annual conference in London on Tuesday (6 February).

“I am therefore calling on the European Commission to undertake an immediate and I mean immediate full audit of German BSE control procedures; and if they are not totally satisfied, to stop German exports.”

Mr Gill said Brussels should “do its duty and enforce” regulations designed to control BSE or risk wasting British controls imposed nearly five years ago.

And he outlined to conference delegates what the union expects from all the political parties prior to the expected General Election in May.

“All we are asking for is a fair share of the final retail price; a bureaucracy which does not drown us in unnecessary regulation; and a government which seeks to promote entrepreneurship rather than stifle it at birth,” he said.

Mr Gill said the union would not give up on the battle to talk the government out of introducing a ridiculous tax on pesticides.

Emphasising the need to continue differentiating British produce on the basis of quality, he also issued a warning to groups that might try to undermine farmers.

“Single-issue pressure groups which do not accept that agriculture must be profitable and dynamic must expect trouble from the NFU,” he said.

Mr Gill hit back at press reports accusing the union of political bias by not asking a Conservative politician to speak at the conference.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy was invited this year to balance last years invitation to Conservative leader William Hague, he said.

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