A RETALIATORY ban by Britain on Irish and EU food imports would be disgraceful, irresponsible and illegal, the Irish Farmers Association president, Mr John Donnelly, said last night.
He was speaking after Downing Street confirmed that British ministers are examining a range of options, including a retaliatory ban on European products, if the EU does not lift its worldwide ban on British beef.
Mr Donnelly said that instead of making threatening noises about trade wars, the British government should be pursuing policies for its own industry, including a more comprehensive slaughtering policy.
Irish livestock farmers are only too well aware that the British beef industry has been offered up to £3 billion in EU support to clear up a mess of the UK government's own making, while the Irish industry has been left reeling, with shattered markets, collapsed prices and totally inadequate intervention support," he said.
British ministers are furious that the EU ban has not been lifted despite scientific evidence that British beef is safe. Even pro European ministers much as the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Michael Heseltine, are now advocating a hardline approach.
Such a ban would badly hit Ireland, which supplied £210 million worth of beef to British markets last year, industry sources said last night.
The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Malcolm Rifkind, publicly defended any retaliatory action during a meeting with his European counterparts in Luxembourg yesterday, arguing that inevitably other options" would be considered if the "positively absurd" ban on British beef was not lifted.
Meanwhile, British sources insist they do not intend to ask for a "regionalisation" of the ban to exempt Northern Ireland and Scotland. They say that the possibility of seeking an exemption for herds that are substantially grass fed is under consideration. This could have the same effect.
"What we are concentrating on is trying to get a rational response based on the health assessment, not just by British experts but by those who report to the European Commission, because it so happens they agree," Mr Rifkind said.
A Downing Street spokesman refused to discuss details of the specific options being considered but acknowledged that a total ban on European products would be deemed illegal under the rules of the single market.
Although Whitehall sources also refused to discuss the options in detail, it has been suggested that the British government could impose a ban on beef from Ireland and France, on the grounds those two states had recorded cases of BSE.
The British Minister for Agriculture, Mr Douglas Hogg, meets the Farm Commissioner Mr Franz Fischler, today for talks expected to include British plans for a selective cull of affected herds.
A Department of Agriculture and Food spokesman said last night that he saw no basis for a ban on Irish beef by Britain. "It is not the way forward and will make a difficult situation more difficult."
Another option currently under discussion by the British authorities is the "Japanese" solution which involves all foreign imports into Britain being subject to bureaucratic red tape and rigorous custom checks.
The British cabinet's willingness to trigger a possible trade war within the EU reflects its anger at the failure to lift the beef ban, which it believes is also fuelling anti government sentiment among farmers, who are traditionally loyal Tory supporters.
One senior minister pointed out that the British government had played by the rules but the ban had not been lifted so "it is time to play dirty". The British Education Secretary, Ms Gillian Shepherd, who is a pro European, said yesterday: "Europe knows we mean business.
Mr John Redwood, a leading Tory Euro sceptic, said he supported a retaliatory ban, but warned that the British government would end up before the European Court.
"I would be surprised if such a retaliatory ban was held to be legal by the European Court and I would be quite surprised if we were not taken to the European Court if we imposed such a ban, particularly bearing in mind that this government is taking Europe to court over its ban on our beef. But of course I am in favour of the government taking any action it thinks necessary and effective in getting the beef ban lifted."