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MEP Protests against French ban on lamb
Wednesday 26 June 2002  Damaging French plans, due to be put into action next Monday, will effectively ban all exports of British lamb. Local Conservative MEP Roger Helmer yesterday joined a delegation of farmers and other representatives of the farming industry in protesting against the ban. They carried a message for the French government - "Don't Ban Our Lamb".
After the protest Mr Helmer attended a breakfast briefing with the EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler and demanded that the European Commission take immediate action. France is insisting that the spinal cord is removed from the carcasses of all lambs over six months old, claiming this is necessary to protect against TSE (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy). This ban would send the price of UK lamb into free fall, further slashing the incomes of East Midlands farmers, already at an all-time low. Speaking after the meeting with Commissioner Fischler in Edinburgh, Roger Helmer MEP said: "This is yet another example of France acting to placate French farmers, and they must not be allowed to get away with it. EU Health Commissioner David Byrne has confirmed that UK lamb exports pose no risk to public health, that the French plan is a clear breach of European law, and that action will be taken in the European Court. "Disgracefully, the ban will be introduced on the same day that the Commission is having to take further measures over the beef ban. Three years down the line, there is still no light at the end of the tunnel for our farmers - not a single Euro in fines has yet been paid. We must not allow this to happen again over lamb. "Our own Government and the European Commission have been powerless to prevent France from using such blatant protectionism. It is surely time for the Commission to show its teeth. If France is allowed to get away with this a second time, it will open the floodgates for other countries to do the same, and would be another nail in the coffin of British agriculture." |