EU attacks disease blockades

Foot-and-mouth can be transmitted by the wind

EU food safety commissioner David Byrne has strongly condemned bans on imports of agricultural products as a result of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain and France.

About 90 countries, including the United States and Australia, have banned live animal imports and meat and dairy products, but some - including Morocco, Tunisia, Slovakia and Hungary - have gone further and stopped a wide range of agricultural trade, even cereals.

When we look at how the virus spreads, it is very clear that every country is threatened

FAO Animal Health Service chief, Yves Cheneau

Mr Byrne told the European Parliament: "The Commission is deeply disappointed that the very firm and decisive action taken to tackle the current outbreak has been received with excessive and unnecessary action by third countries."

The EU believes that as Britain and France are the only European nations currently suffering cases of foot-and-mouth, only exports from those two countries should be affected at the moment.

Global threat

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned of the possible global spread of the disease.

FAO animal health service chief Yves Cheneau, said: "When we look at how the virus spreads, it is very clear that every country is threatened."

Mr Cheneau also called for tougher checks on the import of food products, including those carried by tourists, as well as stricter controls on immigrants and tourists.

The US has already implemented a series of measures for those arriving from Europe, including the deployment of beagle dogs which can sniff prohibited food inside luggage.

Those who admit to having visited a farm are questioned, and if their footwear is found to be muddy it is disinfected.

Trade dispute

An EU spokeswoman said on Wednesday, that the disease was clearly a cause for concern around the world, but only exports from Britain and France should be affected at the moment.

She said: "It is not proportionate. The only outbreak is in Britain and France.

Sheep are culled as more than 200 cases of foot-and-mouth are identified in the UK

"Thirteen EU states are disease-free. We have measures in place to keep it that way."

The EU is particularly upset at the ban on cereal imports imposed by some countries. It says there is no evidence that foot-and-mouth can be transmitted through crops.

Mr Byrne suggested the EU could take their case before the World Trade Organisation to have the restrictions lifted.

A BBC correspondent says there is now a danger that this agricultural crisis will become the focus of a wider trade dispute.

But US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman was unrepentant.

"We haven't had a case since 1929," she told CNN. "The measures we are taking are to ensure that we remain a foot-and-mouth disease-free country."

Pork problems

The biggest importer of animals and meat from the EU is Russia, and so far that trade has been unaffected.

But the US ban will badly hit the Netherlands and Denmark, which supply large quantities of pork to the American market. Imports of beef from the European Union already were banned because of BSE - mad cow disease.

The disease spread to France despite stringent safeguards

The bans on EU imports follow the discovery of foot-and-mouth disease among cattle in Mayenne, northern France on Tuesday - the first case on mainland Europe since the outbreak began in the UK three weeks ago.

In the UK, more than 200 cases have been confirmed.

Under regulations announced last week, all movement of livestock within the EU is banned unless the animals are being taken directly to slaughterhouses or, with official permission, to other farms.

Foot-and-mouth disease strikes cloven-hoofed animals such as sheep, pigs and cows, either killing the animals or reducing production of milk and meat.

It can be transmitted by the wind, people or vehicles, or spread by contaminated hay, water and manure.

Entire herds are being destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease, which is not harmful to humans.