Brussels, 08/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - As announced in EUROPE yesterday (p.10), the Standing Veterinary Committee voted Wednesday evening in favour of the principle of the lifting of the embargo, introduced by the European Union end-November 1998, on the export of beef from Portugal. Beef and beef products may only be marketed under condition that the provisions of the date-based export scheme are respected. Three conditions apply to deliveries of de-boned meat: - aged between 6 and 30 months (less than 1% of BSE has been declared among cattle aged in that age range); - born after 1 July 1999 (date when a centralised information and registration system for cattle was introduced); - come from certified abattoirs and equipped with a product tracing system. Live cattle (except for fighting bulls since October 1999) and animal embryos of the bovine species will still remain banned from being exported.
The date for the resumption of exports will have to be approved by the SVC (on a Commission proposal) in relation to a report the Food and Veterinary Office will make. Inspections will be on controls of eligibility of cattle to the export regime, product traceability and the slaughter of cattle.