001108 French Says Beef Bans Unjustified

Paris - French meat industry officials were up in arms about Russian and Hungarian restrictions on imports of French beef, insisting their country had some of the strictest controls in Europe against mad cow disease.

Russia earlier announced restrictions on imports of French beef and livestock while Hungary banned all beef and beef products from France and Ireland over fears about the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

The French Farm Ministry had no immediate comment on the decisions, but meat industry officials blamed the moves on a sharp increase in reported cases of the deadly brain-wasting disease since the government began testing cattle in June.

“This decision is not very understandable,” said Louis Orega, head of France's Meat Information Centre.

He said scientific data showed the rate of mad cow disease in France was no higher than in neighboring countries like Italy or Germany, the only difference being that it had taken extra measures to detect new cases.

“France is therefore the country where there are proportionally the most cases,” said Orega. “We are apparently giving the impression that France is more affected than other countries.”

According to the Farm Ministry's Web site, France has detected 86 cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) this year, up sharply from the 30 cases reported in 1999.

The government in June started testing 48,000 cows to gauge the extent of the illness among its 21 million cattle herd.

French beef sales and prices have plunged after revelations last week that several local supermarkets sold meat potentially contaminated with BSE, causing panic among consumers battered by a series of food safety scares.

Scientists believe BSE-infected meat can cause a new form of Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease in humans -- an illness that has killed at least 85 people in Britain and two in France.

But EU officials confirmed on Friday that the rate of mad cow disease in France remained well below danger levels.

Cattle Farmers Frustrated

Cattle farmers said the consumer reaction was frustrating, given that French beef had actually become increasingly safe as a result of a growing array of government safety measures.

“We are in a contradictory situation: on the one hand, the meat is unscathed and France is taking maximum precautions in a spirit of transparency, but consumers feel there is an increase in the number of cases and an increase in risk,” said a spokesman for the National Cattle Federation.

Michel Prost, director of the National Federation of Cattle and Meat Cooperatives, said it was now up to the government and trade envoys to reassure clients that its products were safe.

France exported 45,322 tons of frozen beef and 2,955 tons of fresh beef to Russia in 1999, according to the French Foreign Trade Centre. It also sold 722 tons of frozen beef to Hungary last year.

Russia said its ban was limited to regions of France where cases of BSE have been reported, making it hard to gauge the impact of the move on exports next year.

In a parallel move, Switzerland's Federal Veterinary Office announced it was recommending a ban on the use of animal meal in all livestock feed in a bid to wipe out BSE in the country.

French daily Liberation reported on Friday that the government was also considering banning beef on the bone because of potential contamination from the animal's spine, a move likely to infuriate gourmets.

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