EU allows Britain to resume partial meat exports

BRUSSELS - European Union vets on Wednesday allowed Britain to resume exports of fresh beef and sheep meat from outside a restricted area in southern England subject to strict conditions, the European Commission said.

Britain has now confirmed eight cases of highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) during the current outbreak which began in the southern English county of Surrey on Aug. 3.

The vets, representing the EU's 27 member governments, backed a draft decision that "the whole of Great Britain would remain a high-risk area with regard to the movement restrictions for susceptible animals and untreated products", it said.

"The export of fresh beef and sheep meat would be allowed to resume from the parts of Great Britain which fall outside a 200 km delineated area around the surveillance zone in Southeast England, subject to strict animal health conditions."

The decision would be adopted formally from Oct. 12, meaning it would enter into legal force, only if there were no more FMD outbreaks outside the area, the Commission said.

Last month, EU veterinary experts imposed a ban on all British exports of fresh meat, live animals and milk products that had been due to expire on Oct. 15.