EU vets vote to ease strict export restrictions on British beef

EUROPEAN UNION veterinary experts have voted to ease strict rules on British beef exports, in a further step to bring the country's livestock industry in from the cold after its battering from the mad-cow crisis.

However, the EU's Standing Veterinary Committee, whose opinions are usually rubber-stamped by the European Commission, has also called for more testing for the disease in Britain's herd, the EC said in a statement.

Under current regulations, meat going to the export and UK domestic markets are segregated through different processing plants and two slaughterhouses, giving foreign buyers more assurance over the origin of the beef they purchase.