Reuters-Food bans stay in Asia as E

[tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Reuters-Food bans stay in Asia as EC goes after Belgium 

Food bans stay in Asia as EC goes after Belgium
04:17 a.m. Jun 16, 1999 Eastern
By Mark Snelling

SINGAPORE, June 16 (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 neighbours 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 January 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.