15/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 15 February, the European Commission received approval from the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH) to ban imports of de-boned and matured bovine meat from 8 departments in the Argentinean province of Corientes due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the region. Another decision was also approved concerning the strengthening of controls in Brazil (tighter certification requirements for Brazilian exports to the EU, notably with regard to vaccination, surveillance and animal contacts). This decision does not affect the ban on EU imports of beef and veal from the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Sao Paulo, which were imposed due to outbreaks of foot-and-mouth.