990625 EU Lifts Immediate Threat Of U.S. Beef Ban

Brussels - The European Union lifted the immediate threat of a ban on all U.S. beef imports after the United States gave assurances that meat destined for the bloc would not contain growth hormones.

The EU's executive Commission threatened in April to ban imports of U.S. beef from Tuesday after scientific tests showed that 12% of supposedly hormone- free U.S. beef shipped to the EU contained hormone residues.

But EU officials said the bloc had decided to put off the threatened ban by six months after the United States pledged to put in place checks to stop the problem.

The postponement will give EU inspectors time to visit U.S. abattoirs to assess the new controls, officials said.

If the checks were found to be reliable, the threat of a ban could be lifted altogether later this year, they said.

“A lot of progress has been made, a lot of the points have been tackled. We haven't got a complete solution yet, but the June 15 date has now become December 15 ...,” European Commission spokesman Nigel Gardner told reporters.

In the meantime, U.S. beef imports could carry on but would continue to be checked for hormone residues, he said.

The issue is separate from a transatlantic dispute over the EU's decade-old import ban on hormone-treated beef which has led the United States to threaten sanctions against EU exports.

The EU's 15 member governments unanimously backed the six-month delay of the threatened beef ban at a meeting of veterinary experts in Brussels on Friday, EU officials said.

The European Commission still has to approve the postponement but that is expected to be a formality, they said.

“The U.S. gave us guarantees that there will be 100% controls over there. These are written guarantees. We want to check that on the spot,” an EU official said.

He said that, in the next six months, EU experts would carry out two inspections of U.S. abattoirs that export beef to the EU. There would be an urgent inspection in the next few weeks and then a broader inspection in the next few months, he said.

If the first inspection found no problems, the Commission would probably ease its requirement that all U.S. beef imports be checked for hormones, the official said. “Then after the second inspection, they could lift the possible ban,” he said.

The EU already bans imports of U.S. hormone-treated beef because of fears it could be harmful to human health. But it has continued to import up to 8,000 metric tons a year of U.S. hormone-free beef, worth around $20 million.

The EU's import ban on hormone-treated beef is the subject of a long-running dispute with the United States and Canada.

After winning a World Trade Organisation (WTO) case, Washington has threatened to impose punitive duties on $202 million of EU exports because of the EU's refusal to lift the ban. Canada is seeking sanctions of C$75 million ($51 million).

The EU ruled out lifting the ban after an EU scientific committee found evidence that one of six hormones commonly used in the North American cattle industry could cause cancer.

WTO arbitrators will rule by July 12 on the level of sanctions the United States and Canada may impose after the EU challenged the requested amounts.

But the EU hopes to avoid sanctions altogether by persuading Washington to accept compensation in the form of expanded access to the EU market for other U.S. goods.

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