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LONDON, Mar 9 (Xinhua): British beef farmers welcome yesterday the lifting of a 10-year ban on UK's export of beef products and live animals, which could resume in six weeks.
The National Farmers' Union said farmers would start as soon as possible to "recapture" their lost market share.
The ban, lifted by the EU vets' committee, was enforced in 1996 to stop the spread of mad cow disease.
Beef exports were worth 600 million pounds and cattle exports 75 million pounds in 1995 -- one year before the ban.
The only beef currently eligible for export is UK boneless beef, produced under the stringent conditions of the Date Based Export Scheme, and beef of foreign origin produced under another scheme.
The European Commission eased the original ban on Aug. 1, 1999, allowing exports of boneless British beef products from animals aged between six and 30 months to recommence.
But, on the advice of its scientific committee, the export of live cattle remained banned.
The United States, however, is banning on imports of British beef products, starting from 1997.
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