021008 France to Resume British Beef Imports

Paris - France will resume imports of British beef within 10 days after the government agreed to lift a six-year old ban that was imposed because of fears of mad cow disease, officials said Thursday.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin on Wednesday lifted the ban following the recommendation of France's food safety agency that the beef was free of the disease and safe to eat.

Officials at Raffarin's office said British beef would be allowed back on French supermarket shelves in a week to 10 days.

The government's decision — which came three years after a similar European move — ended a bitter dispute with Britain. London repeatedly described the ban as illegal.

In an effort to reassure consumers, the government decided to make it compulsory for all beef served in school canteens and restaurants to carry a certificate of origin.

Paris has said it would propose this week that the European Union standardize its testing of animals over two years old being bred for human consumption. The test is already carried out in Germany, Italy, Spain and France.

Until the ban in 1996, France had been Britain's biggest export market for beef.

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