Meat imports ban to be lifted

The Czech Republic is planning to re-open its food market to meat imports from several EU states. The country imposed a ban on meat imports in connection with the spread of mad-cow disease or BSE. The ban will be lifted as of September 5th to allow EU countries with a low incidence of BSE to renew imports to the Czech Republic. The countries concerned include Austria, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg and Greece. All meat imports will require BSE tests and a certificate of quality. Since the beginning of 2001, Czech labs have tested over 230,000 head of cattle for BSE, with two positive results.