Deadline looms for EU-US food hygiene deal

Date: 03/04/1997

By Michael Mann

LAST-DITCH efforts to avert a full-scale trade war with the US are continuing as the clock ticks away towards the effective 15 April deadline for a deal to end the dispute over food hygiene standards.

Senior European Commission negotiator Lars Hoelgaard met his US counterpart Paul Drazek yesterday (2 April) to search for common ground in a wrangle which threatens to disrupt transatlantic trade in meat and meat products worth up to 350 million ecu.

Although the deadline for a deal was theoretically 1 April, a brief window of opportunity has been offered by the fact that new US inspection standards will not come into force fully until 15 April.

The latest twist in the fractious EU-US farm-trade relationship results from the two sides' failure to recognise each other's meat hygiene standards. Agreement would allow both sides to accept imports of meat products from the other even if inspection methods varied.

Since new EU rules came into effect on 1 April, American exports must now meet the latest Union inspection standards to gain access to the European market. Drazek said the US authorities would no longer provide export certificates for shipments because of the new regulations.

Among a myriad of outstanding problems, the most serious single obstacle to an accord is EU unhappiness with the way US poultry is decontaminated after processing. The Commission is extremely sensitive to meat hygiene questions in the wake of the recent BSE crisis.

Washington claims that exports of poultry, egg and dairy products worth nearly 90 million ecu would be affected almost immediately by the new measures.

In retaliation, the US has introduced fresh requirements for EU meat exports worth over 250 million ecu every year - a move described by Commission agriculture spokesman Gerry Kiely as “totally disproportionate”.

But despite the apparent stalemate, the new US system will not be fully in place until 15 April, giving the two sides a little while longer to resolve their differences.

It will also be some time before the true level of disruption to US exports becomes apparent, as it is up to member state authorities to implement the new rules at their borders.

When Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler briefed his Commission colleagues on the state of play in the discussions yesterday, he stressed that the room for manoeuvre was extremely limited, particularly after discussions at the last meeting of EU farm ministers. “This is a question of protection of consumer health, not a trade question, nor is it a protectionist measure in disguise,” said a Commission official.

Officials claimed the Union's offer of further transitional measures - on top of the three-month extension it was given late last year when the EU decided to postpone implementation of the new rules for three months to 1 April - had been rejected by Washington.

Despite the gravity of the problems, both sides stressed they were looking to avert a trade war. “We intend to continue to work to reach an acceptable agreement in the coming months and to minimise trade disruptions to the extent possible,” said US Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.