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NI beef ban to stay 'until July'

Department of Agriculture Permanent Secretary Peter Small said the ban would not be lifted until July at the earliest.

He admitted responsibility for failure in beef tracking computer system, but refused to resign.

The error led to 19 cattle from a BSE-infected herd being exported.

This caused the ban on Northern Ireland beef exports to be resumed, while EU officials put in place extra checks on cattle.

Among the improvements demanded were double ear tagging of animals and greater accuracy in recording cattle's birth dates and movements.

Mr Small told BBC Radio Ulster: "Some of the improvements can be put in place within a matter of days, but it is impossible to put the entire package in place, we believe - and this is an early estimate - any earlier than July.

"When the inspectors left us last Wednesday evening it was very much on the basis that they had been satisfied we had rectified the problem.

"They had some suggestions about further tightening of the scheme which they put to us and we had good reason to believe that this would be nothing more than an minor glitch - which was all it was.

"What appears to have happened when the inspectors reported back to their superiors in Brussels, where there remains great sensitivity over imports of beef from anywhere in the UK, those more senior people were more nervous and indicated they wanted some further action taken before they would be satisfied."

But unionist policians in Northern Ireland have called for an inquiry into the events leading to the latest ban.

Democractic Unionist leader Rev Ian Paisley also called for the recall of the Northern Ireland Assembly to debate the issue.

"I think that the united voice of the elected representatives of Northern Ireland meeting and debating an issue that is an issue which runs to the very heart of our economy would be a very good thing.

"I cannot understand why the secretary of state can't give us standing orders to cover such an emergency, so that in an emergency like this - the assembly is there, the elected representatives are there and they should have an input," he said.

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NI beef exports suspended (24 May 99 | UK Politics)

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