Ireland's troubled beef industry has suffered a further setback with the announcement tonight of EU plans to ban T-bone steaks, as part of its campaign to halt the spread of BSE. Several countries have been exempted from the curbs, but Ireland is not among them. This latest development is expected to have a negative impact on efforts to persuade Egypt to end its ban on live cattle imports from Ireland.
After several weeks of weighing up the problem, the European Commission voted to approve a ban on the sale of meat cuts that contain the vertebral column of cattle over twelve months old. Effectively it is the end of the T-bone steak. From 1 April, butchers will have to remove all backbone from meat before sale. The plan was given a vote of approval at a meeting of the powerful EU veterinary committee. Ireland abstained in the vote.
Sweden, Finland and Austria are exempt from the ban as they have not found any native cases of BSE in cattle, while the two countries with the biggest number of mad cows - Britain and Portugal, were also exempted because of the stringent safety regimes in those countries. The new measures have alarmed Irish farmers involved in the export of live cattle. Later this month the Egyptian government will decide whether to reopen its massive market to Irish beef. It is feared that this latest move by the EU may influence the Egyptians to impose a further four month ban on Irish beef, while they assess this latest twist in Europe’s mad cow crisis.
