Brussels - The European Union will comply with its World Trade Organization obligations in a case involving its ban on hormone-treated beef imports, an EU official said.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said earlier in Washington that a WTO arbitrator had given the EU 15 months, starting from February 1998, to comply with a panel decision which found the ban violated international trade rules.
The EU official said he had not seen the WTO's latest decision and could not confirm it. He said 15 months equaled the longest period any party has been given in which to comply with a WTO decision, although the EU had sought a longer period.
"We will comply with our WTO obligations," he said.
A WTO appeals panel ruled in February that the EU's nearly 10-year-old ban on hormone-treated beef violated international trade rules. Since then, the United States and the EU have been unable to agree on how long the EU should have to comply with the ruling.
The EU had pushed for four years in order to conduct more tests on the safety of hormone-treated beef.
The United States had insisted the previous tests had already shown that beef produced from cattle treated with artificial growth hormones was safe for human consumption and urged the EU to make its laws conform with the ruling by the end of this year.
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