UK appeals to EU to ease ban on livestock

 
Published: Saturday 15 September 2007

Following a recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the uk government is trying to convince the eu to ease a ban on its livestock, meat and dairy exports. Meanwhile, the country's veterinarians are looking for evidence so the country can be declared 'disease-free' by early November.

According to eu laws, a country can be declared 'clear of the disease' about three months after the last case is recorded. The disease was first confirmed at two farms in Surrey, southern England, on August 3. The outbreak led to the culling of about 600 animals and prompted the eu and other countries to ban British meat and dairy exports. The National Farmers' Union said restrictions on meat exports had cost the industry about 1.8 million pounds (us $3.6 million) a day.

An epidemic of the disease in 2001 led to the slaughter of seven million animals and shut British meat out of the world market for months.

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