WASHINGTON: The U.S. will lift the ban on beef imports from France, which have been shut out of the market for 19 years, according to the European Commission. “This is excellent news for French producers,” three European Union commissioners said in a joint statement.
The three commissioners were Cecilia Malmstroem for trade, Phil Hogan for agriculture and Vytenis Andriukaitis for food safety.
French beef producers will be able to start exporting to the U.S. as soon as France has sent a list of certified establishments to U.S. agencies.
The U.S. closed its market to beef imports in the 1998 following the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis which is also known as mad cow disease. Ireland was the first EU member state that got its beef products readmitted, followed by Lithuania and the Netherlands.
“This shows that the European Union’s efforts to eradicate BSE from its territory have borne fruit. The decision of the United States clearly demonstrates what we can achieve when we have an open and constructive relationship with one of our most important trading partners,” the commissioners said in the statement.
