EU ban on Dutch meat expected

The EU head office debated a ban on exports of live animals and some meat products from the Netherlands today after the country announced the discovery of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

EU spokeswoman Beate Gminder said the European Commission regretted the news from the Dutch government, but added: "We are still confident that the disease can be contained."

Veterinary experts from the EU nations were to meet later today and will likely issue "the same restrictions" on Dutch animal and meat exports as have been imposed on France and Britain in recent weeks.

"There will be a decision on how long the embargo (on the Netherlands) will stay in place," Gminder said at the EU’s daily press briefing.

She added the EU "will keep under review" the possibility of a vaccination programme to stem the spreading of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease through the EU.