EU bans British livestock, meat and dairy exports

By Darren Ennis

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union slapped a ban on Monday on all British exports of fresh meat, live animals and milk products following the country's recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), the European Commission said.

"No live animals susceptible to FMD (cattle, sheep, goats and pigs), or products from these animals, can be dispatched from Great Britain. Likewise, other member states cannot send any such live animals to Great Britain," the EU executive said.

"Live animals and animal products will still be allowed to be dispatched from Northern Ireland ... so long as they carry the appropriate health certificate," it said in a statement.

EU veterinary experts will meet on Wednesday to review the measure, it said.

The unexpected FMD outbreak comes as an unwelcome reminder of when the highly contagious viral sickness devastated British farming back in 2001, when more than six million animals were slaughtered -- many of them burned on huge bonfires.

Earlier on Monday, a Commission spokesman said the EU executive had agreed with British authorities to define the territory of Great Britain as a high-risk area, rather than limiting the ban to a specific geographical area around the outbreak, as the Commission had originally planned.

But a senior Commission official said EU food safety experts "were not surprised by the British request" and that, barring any further FMD outbreaks reported in Britain, he expected that zone to be reduced at Wednesday's meeting.

"This makes sense and the UK has learned a lot since 2001 and provided us with a very detailed plan," the official said.