020939 French Agency Rules British Beef Is Safe

Paris (Reuters) - France moved a step closer to ending its illegal six-year ban on British beef over fears of mad cow disease on Friday as its national food safety agency said the meat was no longer a danger to public health.

France's health, trade and farm ministries said they would pass their view on the opinion from the AFSSA agency to Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin within 10 days for a decision that would remove a major irritant in Franco-British relations.

"We now have reason to believe that we could relax the ban without compromising the level of safety for French consumers," Martin Hirsch, president of AFFSA, told a news conference.

The government, potentially facing a daily fine from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for not ending the unilateral ban, has always said it could not change its position on the embargo until AFSSA had delivered its opinion.

Paris has been reluctant to bow to international pressure, particularly as several French nationals have died of the human version of mad cow, linked to eating meat infected with the disease, also known as BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy).

More than 100 people in Britain have died from new variant Creutzfeldt Jacob disease (vCJD).

Britain welcomed the AFSSA opinion but said it still expected Paris to lift the illegal ban promptly.

"We welcome the progress that is being made and expect the French government to make a decision quickly. The only question we need answered now is when will the ban be lifted," Britain's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, Margaret Beckett, said in a statement.

However, the French government is not bound to accept AFSSA's opinion and has promised to consult widely with public bodies.

"(The ministries) have taken note of this opinion and will study it with the attention it deserves...with sector professionals and consumer associations," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

RESERVATIONS

Hirsch said the agency was satisfied with the way the British authorities controlled the safety of beef. However, it still had some reservations. AFSSA said British beef exports were almost six times more likely to contain BSE-infected material than French beef destined for human consumption, stressing the risk was still very small.

It said Britain did not test every animal entering the food chain.

"We still expect Britain to significantly increase the number of tests in order to cut this statistical margin," Marc Eloit, head of AFSSA's expert panel, said.

The European Union eased the export ban on British beef in the middle of 1999, 3-1/2 years after it was imposed, almost wrecking the national industry.

France's refusal to comply sparked a cross-Channel diplomatic row and calls from politicians and media in Britain for trade retaliation.

In July the European Commission asked the ECJ to impose a fine of almost 160,000 euros a day on France for failing to comply with its earlier judgements that the ban was illegal.

That case is still at the Luxembourg-based court and a decision is still some months away.

EXPORT TRICKLE

Britain's National Farmers' Union (NFU) said France accounted for half Britain's beef exports to the EU before the ban, taking 106,000 tons worth around 240 million pounds.

The NFU said Britain had only exported some 500 tons of beef per year since 1999 but noted that France's refusal to accept the meat had damaged Britain's reputation.

"France's absence has left a gaping hole and may have put off other countries from re-opening their borders to British beef," it said.

New EU labeling laws mean beef sold in supermarkets has to be labeled with the country of origin, a regulation that could see British beef sales slow to take off with French consumers.

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