The EU is about to present the US with scientific evidence which it claims justifies its refusal to allow hormone-treated American beef into Europe on health grounds. One of six hormones used on US and Canadian farms may be linked with cancer, according to its latest investigation.
The European Commission yesterday discussed the long-awaited report, which strengthens the hand of those intent on maintaining the ban on imports of hormone-treated beef despite the in creased risk of a trade confrontation with the US and Canada, who are supported by the World Trade Organisation.
The Commission will not take a decision on "risk management measures" until next week, a spokesman said. These are likely to involve tighter restrictions and increased inspections on meat imports, despite the US already indicating it will impose punitive duties on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of EU exports - unless the 10-year-old import ban is lifted by May 13th in compliance with a WTO ruling.
The report, from the EU's Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health, assessed possible risks from six hormone products used in the North American beef industry to speed up cattle growth. "As concerns excess intake of hormone residues . . . a risk to the consumer has been identified with different levels of conclusive evidence for the six hormones in question," it concluded.
The committee said there was substantial recent evidence to suggest one hormone, 17-beta oestradiol, could cause cancer. "It has to be considered as a complete carcinogen, as it exerts both tumour-initiating and tumour-promoting effects," it found. There was not enough data to draw final conclusions about whether the five other growth hormones used were safe for human consumption.
For all six hormones, various health effects "could be envisaged", including developmental, immunological, neuro-biological and carcinogenic effects, according to a summary of the report endorsed last week and officially released on Monday. Children were considered at greatest risk.
A US diplomat in Brussels, however, said there seemed to be little new in the report. "If there is new evidence, everybody in the world will want to see it," he said.
"There is a body of 20 to 30 years of information that would suggest there is no problem here [with hormone-treated beef]," he added.
A separate report by European Commission officials and private experts looked into the dangers of possible misuse of hormones within the beef industry. It claimed human exposure and risk were increased because regulatory controls over hormone residues in meat were not good enough in the US and Canada.
The Commission will make contact with the US and Canada later this week to pursue the possibility of a common interpretation of the new scientific findings, a Commission spokesman said. The report will influence the EU's actions in Geneva, where the WTO ruled last year in favour of the US and Canada.
While the US maintains the EU must lift the ban by May 13th to comply with the WTO ruling, the EU says it simply has to produce new scientific studies of possible risks from hormones. It has ordered 17 new studies into hormone-treated beef, but they are not yet finished. The scientific committee's report was based on interim results from some of the studies.
The beef dispute worsened last week when the EU threatened to ban all US beef imports from June 15th after traces of hormones were found in supposedly hormone-free US beef.
(Additional reporting: Reuters)
