document: The UK will get strong backing from Brussels today when Germany seeks a ban on British beef exports because of fear of ` mad cow disease ' , or bovine spongiform encephalopathy -LRB- BSE -RRB- . The European Commission planned to tell Germany that it would take legal action if Bonn attempted to introduce a unilateral ban , commission officials said yesterday . Health ministers of the 12 will also discuss the BSE row tomorrow afternoon . Mr Horst Seehofer , the German health minister , has been the prime mover for action against the UK . Bonn is calling for a ban on all live cattle and beef exports from the UK after the discovery in Germany of BSE imported from the UK . The commission has reminded Germany that it is the EU that sets veterinary rules , and that there is no scientific evidence proving a link between BSE and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease , which affects humans . A series of restrictions have been imposed in the UK beef sector , which Britain and the commission say are working . In 1990 , certain bovine offals , like brain and spleen , were banned for human consumption . Since June 1990 there has been a ban on the export of live cattle over six months from the UK , and on the progeny of BSE-affected cows . In addition , all British exports of bone-in beef must be certified as coming from herds that have been free of ` mad cow disease ' for two years . British officials say that the EU single market will be disrupted unless all member states stick to the scientific evidence , and that Germany 's threat of unilateral action risks a collapse in beef consumption similar to the fall that followed the 1990 BSE scare . ` We feel we have a sound case and other member states and the Commission agree with us , ' a senior British agriculture official said .
extractive_keyphrases: mad cow disease british beef exports bovine spongiform encephalopathy unilateral ban british exports restrictions germany
abstractive_keyphrases: bse-affected cows