EU Bans Beef Imports from Small Part of Argentina
Date: 16-Feb-06
Country: BELGIUM
The ban, agreed by food safety experts from the EU's 25 member states, applies to shipments of deboned and mature bovine meat solely from those areas, it said in a statement, referring to the department of the outbreak and the seven surrounding it.
"The ban will apply to all bovine meat from this area slaughtered after 4 February 2006, which was when the suspicion of disease was first notified," the Commission said.
"Meat from other regions of Argentina which are free of FMD can continue to be imported into the EU in accordance with existing import rules," it said.
Argentina, the world's third-largest beef exporter, confirmed the outbreak last week, triggering restrictions on Argentine beef by a string of South American nations and the country's leading beef buyer, Russia.
It has prohibited meat exports from and livestock movement within the same eight departments of Corrientes, affecting more than 530,000 heads of cattle in that region. The province has just one meatpacking plant approved for exports.
The Commission praised Argentina for having taken "rapid action" to prevent the disease from spreading into other areas.
Israel, South Africa and Singapore have also announced bans.
Corrientes accounts for less than 2 percent of Argentina's overall beef exports, 2004 government figures show. It borders one of Argentina's top beef producers, Santa Fe province. Foot-and-mouth can cause high fevers and blisters in cloven-hoofed animals and often leads to death. The highly contagious disease can be contracted by cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, but only very rarely by people.
Argentina's beef exports hit a record $1.39 billion last year after a vaccination programme helped the country regain its world status as free of foot-and-mouth. The country suffered outbreaks of the disease in 2001 and 2003.
Argentina's government says it does not expect beef exports to fall by more than 20 percent because of the recent outbreak.
The EU experts also tightened certification requirements for de-boned and matured beef exports from EU-approved areas of Brazil, especially regarding vaccination, surveillance and contacts between animals, the statement said.
"A recent Commission inspection visit found that considerable progress has been made in Brazilian traceability measures since the last EU inspection there, but further improvements in certain other areas are still needed," it said.
The bloc currently bans beef imports from three Brazilian states - Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Sao Paulo - which were also imposed due to outbreaks of foot-and-mouth.
(Additional reporting by Hilary Burke in Buenos Aires)