Processors to continue importing German beef
Processors to continue importing German beef
BRITISH meat processors will continue to import German bone-in beef despite a ban on its sale in Germany itself.
The Food Standards Agency says German beef on the bone can still be imported as long as it goes straight to dedicated de-boning plants on arrival.
Germany is one of 11 member states required to remove the spines of cattle over 12 months old from Apr 1 as a new EU anti-BSE measure. The British Meat Federation (BMF) says the ban will make little difference to processors who import German beef on the bone.
BMF director general, Peter Scott, said British consumers would not be at risk because the German meat would be de-boned. BSE was far lower in Germany than in the UK, he added.
But Robert Forster, chief executive of the National Beef Association, was angry that the current influx of German beef will only be partially stemmed. He initially believed the ban would help British farmers currently under pressure from "half-price" German beef.
"Although it will put a brake on small catering butchers buying bone-in beef, it does not look like it will stop the big slaughterhouses. This is unfortunate," he said. "How can we be allowed to import something that is banned in the country in which it is produced?"