Portugal faces beef ban threat

Date: 24/09/1998

By Myles Neligan

REVELATIONS of widespread breaches of EU rules designed to halt the spread of mad cow disease brought a warning from Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler this week of a possible ban on Portuguese beef exports.

The move follows the publication of a highly critical report on practices in the Portuguese beef industry prepared last month by EU veterinary inspectors.

They found that the Portuguese authorities had not adequately enforced the EU's 1994 ban on feeding cattle with meat and bone-meal, a practice linked with the spread of BSE. Last year, the Commission launched infringement proceedings against Portugal for the same offence.

At the request of Portuguese Prime Minister António Guterres, Commission President Jacques Santer has agreed to send a second team of inspectors to Portugal, where agricultural officials insist that steps are already under way to comply fully with EU rules.

The inspectors' visit is scheduled for next week, but as Lisbon will then have ten days to respond after the experts have submitted their findings, a final Commission decision is not expected until the end of October.

While Fischler is reserving the right to impose a ban, many believe the Commission is more likely to take Portugal to the European Court of Justice.

If the ECJ ruled against Lisbon, the government would have to fall into line or face the threat of hefty fines.

There have been 57 cases of BSE in the country so far this year, bringing the total to 147. Portugal is not a major beef exporter, shipping just 2,650 tonnes of beef abroad last year, mostly to Spain.