European Commission to sue Belgium over dioxin scare

European Commission to sue Belgium over dioxin scare

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Supermarket shelves around Asia were
largely bare of many European foods on Wednesday as the European
Commission prepared to launch legal proceedings against Belgium
over the dioxin health scare.

Indonesia and Myanmar this week joined their neighbors in the
region in banning meat, poultry and dairy imports from several
European countries.

France said on Tuesday its tests on food products and animal
feedstuffs had uncovered no contamination by the cancer-causing
chemical, but Asian nations were taking no chances.

China has launched a nationwide effort to track down any meat,
poultry and dairy products imported from Belgium, the
Netherlands, France and Germany since Jan. 15, the official China
Daily newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper also said China would only allow meat, dairy and
poultry products from the four countries to be sold after they
have been certified as dioxin free. Otherwise, they would be
destroyed, it said.

Europe's most serious food scare since the "mad cow" crisis
broke after it emerged that chickens on about 400 farms in
Belgium had been given feed contaminated with the toxic chemical
dioxin.

Countries around the world have now shut their borders to
Belgian meat and dairy products and some have widened the
temporary bans to include other European Union countries.

Hong Kong, which suspended the sale of poultry, pork, beef and
dairy products from the four countries effective June 4 and is
considering banning the import of eggs, began recalling suspect
eggs from local retailers late last week.

One million eggs had been recalled by late Tuesday. They were
to be marked, sealed and stored by the importers until
investigations into the food scare in Belgium were complete.

The Australian New Zealand Food Authority said import bans on
egg, poultry, beef pork and dairy products from Belgium, France
and the Netherlands were still in place, but would be reviewed on
Thursday.

In Malaysia, where the health scare pushed even the Kosovo
crisis off the front pages, health officials said $2.8 million
worth of foodstuffs had been detained since June 9 at border
points. Another $700 million was taken off shop shelves, they
added.

But on Tuesday, the health ministry said 51 imported products
had been certified dioxin-free and would be allowed back in.
Singapore lifted its ban on Swiss products, except for eggs, some
brands of Irish-produced infant milk formula, and products from
Norway including egg and dairy products.

Full bans remained in place in the Philippines, South Korea,
and Thailand.

European Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler said European
Commission legal proceedings were planned against Belgium but
this "formal" step might not be taken until June 23.

"It's clear there will be proceedings," he told a news
conference on Tuesday after a two-day meeting of EU farm
ministers.

He said action may go beyond Belgium's failure to alert its EU
partners quickly enough of a potential problem and could include
a failure to implement adequate food safety measures.