990864 EU Vets Says Belgium Should Continue Beef TestsAugust 28, 1999Brussels - European Commission veterinary experts decided Belgium should continue testing its beef exports for signs of dioxin contamination until the end of September. The ruling from the Standing Veterinary Committee extends a previous deadline of end-August and comes despite protests from the Belgium government that its beef is safe. “The vets agreed there has not been enough tests in the beef sector. We will review the decision at the end of September,” one official said. Belgium has already agreed to continue to test poultry and pork for high levels of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), chemicals which indicate the presence of cancer-causing dioxins. The SVC has set a PCB ceiling of 200 nanograms per gram of fat but Belgian Agriculture Minister Jaak Gabriels said Wednesday that Belgium had found higher levels than that in imports from other countries. Dioxins entered the food chain in Belgium from tainted animal feed, believed to have been contaminated with motor oil. The food scare escalated in May into Europe's worst health alert since mad cow disease and triggered temporary bans on some Belgian and EU goods around the world.
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