The European Commission has proposed a nine-month ban on the export of Portuguese beef after a rise in the number of cases of BSE or mad cow disease.More than fifty cases have been recorded in Portugal since January.

But the country's Agriculture Minister called the proposal inappropriate, saying there have been similar increases in other EU countries.

The ban will come into force if approved by a majority of EU countries and the Union's veterinary committee.

A BBC correspondent says the proposal may renew consumer fears about the disease, which led to a catastrophic fall in beef sales when a similar ban was imposed on British beef exports in 1996.

Today the Commission moved closer to lifting the ban on British beef.

Research has linked the consumption of beef from BSE-infected cattle to the fatal human form of the disease, known as new variant Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease.