SRM rules to cover non-EU imports
22 March 2001
SRM rules to cover non-EU imports
By Philip Clarke, Europe editor
NON-EU countries wanting to continue shipping meat and meat products to EU markets must remove specified risk materials from 1 April, under new rules.
The legislation agreed in Brussels is designed to ensure equivalent protection against BSE from imported meat as exists for EU product.
This follows the introduction last October of laws requiring all member states to remove SRMs from cattle, sheep and goats.
“The removal of SRMs is the key public health protection measure in relation to BSE,” said consumer affairs commissioner David Byrne.
“Accordingly, the commission insists on the removal of these materials, even where the risk of BSE is remote.”
Shipments of meat already in transit will still be accepted by the EU until 15 April.
Exemptions are also being granted to 10 “Category 1” countries, which are considered “highly unlikely” to be harbouring BSE.
These include Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.
Controversially, Canada and the USA have been placed in Category 2, for countries where BSE is “unlikely, but not excluded” and must remove SRMs.
So will Lithuania and Switzerland — Category 3, “likely to have BSE” — and a host of other countries which failed to submit dossiers on their BSE status to the commission.
“We are surprised and disappointed,” said a spokesman for the Canadian Mission in Brussels.
“We are BSE-free and have put in a lot of time and energy to prove this to the EU.
He said Canada was assessing the impact and will then decide what action to take. A legal challenge through the WTO was not being ruled out.
Meanwhile, the Food Standards Agency has reported another case of EU beef shipped into the UK with spinal cord still attached.
This time the shipment came from Italy and was the 12th abuse of EU rules since mid January.