Some individual abbatoirs have adopted testing and under measures agreed earlier in November tests will be available across the EU, but not until next July at the earliest. If European Union agriculture ministers accept the proposal in Brussels on Monday, and apply it immediately, more than 3 million cattle face incineration. One country, Germany, has already decided to ban the sale of untested meat from Monday. The call for destruction was a surprise move by the Commissioner for consumer protection David Byrne and agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler.
Panic spreads The move follows a week of panic across Europe.
The first cases of BSE in German and Spanish cattle were discovered, and there was a sharp rise in French cases. Beef sales have plummeted, and prices across the EU are down 17 per cent. When falling demand drives prices below a certain level in the EU, the Commission must buy and freeze, or export, any unwanted beef. No one is likely to want to eat this beef, Fischler conceded in announcing the proposals, and burning is cheaper than freezing. If this restores consumer confidence in beef, prices might also recover.