European Commission to sue Belgium over dioxin scare<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuters): Supermarket shelves around Asia were
\nlargely bare of many European foods on Wednesday as the European
\nCommission prepared to launch legal proceedings against Belgium
\nover the dioxin health scare.<\/p>\n
Indonesia and Myanmar this week joined their neighbors in the
\nregion in banning meat, poultry and dairy imports from several
\nEuropean countries.<\/p>\n
France said on Tuesday its tests on food products and animal
\nfeedstuffs had uncovered no contamination by the cancer-causing
\nchemical, but Asian nations were taking no chances.<\/p>\n
China has launched a nationwide effort to track down any meat,
\npoultry and dairy products imported from Belgium, the
\nNetherlands, France and Germany since Jan. 15, the official China
\nDaily newspaper reported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The newspaper also said China would only allow meat, dairy and
\npoultry products from the four countries to be sold after they
\nhave been certified as dioxin free. Otherwise, they would be
\ndestroyed, it said.<\/p>\n
Europe's most serious food scare since the \"mad cow\" crisis
\nbroke after it emerged that chickens on about 400 farms in
\nBelgium had been given feed contaminated with the toxic chemical
\ndioxin.<\/p>\n
Countries around the world have now shut their borders to
\nBelgian meat and dairy products and some have widened the
\ntemporary bans to include other European Union countries.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong, which suspended the sale of poultry, pork, beef and
\ndairy products from the four countries effective June 4 and is
\nconsidering banning the import of eggs, began recalling suspect
\neggs from local retailers late last week.<\/p>\n
One million eggs had been recalled by late Tuesday. They were
\nto be marked, sealed and stored by the importers until
\ninvestigations into the food scare in Belgium were complete.<\/p>\n
The Australian New Zealand Food Authority said import bans on
\negg, poultry, beef pork and dairy products from Belgium, France
\nand the Netherlands were still in place, but would be reviewed on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
In Malaysia, where the health scare pushed even the Kosovo
\ncrisis off the front pages, health officials said $2.8 million
\nworth of foodstuffs had been detained since June 9 at border
\npoints. Another $700 million was taken off shop shelves, they
\nadded.<\/p>\n
But on Tuesday, the health ministry said 51 imported products
\nhad been certified dioxin-free and would be allowed back in.
\nSingapore lifted its ban on Swiss products, except for eggs, some
\nbrands of Irish-produced infant milk formula, and products from
\nNorway including egg and dairy products.<\/p>\n
Full bans remained in place in the Philippines, South Korea,
\nand Thailand.<\/p>\n
European Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler said European
\nCommission legal proceedings were planned against Belgium but
\nthis \"formal\" step might not be taken until June 23.<\/p>\n
\"It's clear there will be proceedings,\" he told a news
\nconference on Tuesday after a two-day meeting of EU farm
\nministers.<\/p>\n
He said action may go beyond Belgium's failure to alert its EU
\npartners quickly enough of a potential problem and could include
\na failure to implement adequate food safety measures.<\/p>",
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