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EU beef import rules hurting African nations

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-17 23:05

LUSAKA -- The standards and regulations set by the European Union (EU) on allowing the importation of beef products from Africa must be revisited because they are hurting the continent's beef exports, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has said.

The Post newspaper quoted a senior COMESA official as saying the regulations and standards are against the interests of African countries.

These regulations and standards set by the EU are against the interests of African countries, and it is therefore important for the World Trade Organization to revisit the standards, COMESA senior astoralism and policy specialist Dawit Abebe said recently in an interview with the newspaper.

The standard setting organization needs to be convinced that certain diseases like foot and mouth disease are not really a threat, and a country with foot and mouth disease can still export beef, the specialist said.

Meanwhile, the specialist said most African countries cannot fully eradicate livestock diseases due to lack of funds.

He said African countries face difficulties in production and marketing of meat products because of the increased cases of animal diseases.

"In Zambia and other African countries, we cannot eradicate all animal diseases because this is beyond our economic capacities. We have diseases such as east coast fever which has been very problematic in the region, especially in Zambia and Angola," he said.

"These diseases have had a very serious impact in promoting the marketing and production of livestock. Only a few countries like Botswana and Namibia have been able to control diseases and are able to export beef to the EU," he added.