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EU
scientists say beef hormone can cause cancer
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| EU
scientists say beef hormone can cause cancer
By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS, May 1 (Reuters) - A new report by European Union scientists finds strong evidence that one of six hormones used in the beef industry could cause cancer, a conclusion which could drop a bombshell into a transatlantic trade dispute. The scientists said however there were not enough data to draw final conclusions about whether five other growth-promoting hormones used to raise cattle in North America were safe for human consumption. The report, a summary of which was obtained by Reuters on Saturday, will stir controversy days before a key May 13 deadline in a World Trade Organization (WTO) case involving the EU's decade-old ban on imports of hormone-treated beef. The study, to be discussed by the EU's executive Commission next week, gives ammunition to those EU officials who, on consumer safety grounds, oppose a U.S. demand that the bloc's ban be lifted by May 13. The report by the EU's Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health "will break the Commission in two," one EU source predicted. The committee met amid great secrecy on Thursday and Friday to complete a preliminary risk assessment of the hormones. "As concerns excess intake of hormone residues...a risk to the consumer has been identified with different levels of conclusive evidence for the six hormones in question," a summary of their report said. It said there was substantial recent evidence suggesting that one hormone, 17 beta oestradiol, "has to be considered as a complete carcinogen, as it exerts both tumour initiating and tumour promoting effects. "For the other five hormones...the current state of knowledge does not allow a quantitative estimate of the risk." However, it added that for all six hormones various health effects "could be envisaged," including developmental, immunological, eurobiological and carcinogenic effects. "Of the various susceptible risk groups, prepubertal children is the group of greatest concern," it said. The United States has threatened punitive duties on hundreds of millions of dollars of EU exports, including meat, motorcycles and chocolate, if the EU does not lift the ban. Canada is also threatening trade sanctions. The row worsened this week when the Commission threatened to ban all U.S. beef imports from June 15 after traces of hormones were found in supposedly hormone-free U.S. beef. A separate report by Commission officials and private experts looked into the possible risks of misuse of hormones in the cattle industry, for example if hormones were wrongly administered or cattle were given overdoses. The draft report said misuse of the hormones produced "a significant increase in risk." "Human exposure and risk are in particular increased by the fact that regulatory controls over residues of hormones in meat introduced into commerce are deficient in the USA and are insufficient in Canada," it said. The United States, which insists hormone-treated beef is safe, maintains that a WTO ruling last year means the EU must lift its ban on hormone-treated beef by May 13. The EU argues that the WTO ruling simply required it to produce new scientific studies on possible risks from eating the meat. The EU ordered 17 new scientific studies but they are not yet finished. The EU scientific committee considered interim findings of the studies in its preliminary risk assessment. EU and U.S. officials have been discussing labeling of U.S. beef as a possible temporary solution to the row but the new report could reinforce critics of this option. Copyright 1999, Reuters News Service
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Earlier
Item
EUROPEAN
UNION TO BAN AMERICAN BEEF
The European Commission is banning all beef imports from America. Trade will be suspended from June 15 on health grounds after a study into the effect of growth-promoting hormones used in cattle reared in the United States. The latest transatlantic trade dispute follows growing concerns over consumer health and applies to "bovine liver" as well as beef. EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler said Europe was acting to protect consumer health and was ready to work closely with the American authorities to resolve the problem. The
latest move follows the discovery in an independent study of residues of
synthetic growth-promoting hormones in beef and bovine liver imported from
America. Mr Fischler also announced that EU member states will have to
step up their health checks on American beef and liver to cover 100% of
imports - a move backed by the EU's Standing Veterinary Committee. The
commissioner said today's decisions can only be reversed when the EU is
satisfied that all American beef exports to Europe have been produced without
the use of hormones.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler said Europe was acting to protect consumer health and was ready to work closely with the American authorities to resolve the problem. |