EU Vs US: No End in Sight for Poultry Row
EU - A senior German government official has said that the European Union's industry chief is unlikely to get the bloc's backing any time soon to settle a dispute with the United States over poultry imports.
24 April 2008
2 minute read
According to a ReutersAfrica report, the EU banned imports of U.S. poultry treated with antimicrobial agents in 1997 and the issue has been an irritant in trade ties.
EU Enterprise and Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen has been pressing for a deal to end the dispute in time for a meeting in June of top-level EU and U.S. officials to discuss ways of boosting the world's biggest trade relationship.
"We understand Mr Verheugen's position but it will however require a big change in EU food hygiene legislation," said Gert Lindemann, Germany's deputy agriculture minister.
"We can't solve this problem overnight or in the next four weeks," he told a group of Brussels-based correspondents visiting Berlin.
