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Article: The bovine maze.(European Union bureaucracy faced by British agricultural minister Douglas Hogg in his attempt to get ban on British beef lifted)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 25, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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BRUSSELS
POOR Douglas Hogg. For two months the British farm minister has been seeking the lifting of the European Union's ban on the export of British beef and its derivatives, stigmatised as capable, conceivably, of spreading the human equivalent of BSE, mad-cow disease. Not only must Mr Hogg cope with irate British farmers, Eurosceptic MPs and derisive cabinet colleagues. He also has to find a way through the EU's baffling administrative labyrinth.
At least the maze offers an eventual escape. On May 20th, at a meeting of the Standing Veterinary Committee, made up of scientists from the Union's 15 governments, seven countries (Germany, Austria, Spain, ...