EU amends controls on US hormone-free beef

The European Union has made recommendations to end the strict controls on hormone-free beef products imported from the US, having found no traces of hormones or other banned substances in recent tests.

Random testing had been replaced by stricter EU controls on US bovine meat and offal after the discovery of traces of growth-promoting xenobiotic hormones in hormone-free labelled meat in 1999.

The US authorities relaunched their non-hormone-treated cattle programme as a result, but since then EU officials have tested 20 per cent of all US hormone-free beef to enter the region.

In a statement issued this week, the EU said: "In the light of these encouraging results, the Standing Veterinary committee (SVC) has given a favourable opinion to a proposal of the European Commission to repeal the requirement for 20% of consignments of meat imported from the USA to be tested for the possible presence of hormones."​

Once adopted by the European Commission, the decision means that non-hormone treated cattle products from the US will be tested for residues on a random basis like all other meat imports from third countries.

While the move does not affect the EU's long-running dispute with Washington over the EU ban on hormone-treated beef, a US trade official said that this week's decision should help set the stage for resolving the much-bigger dispute over hormone-treated beef.

Import and marketing of beef containing hormones will remain prohibited in the EU.