| WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The European Union
has announced it has taken all the necessary steps to ban U.S.
hormone-treated beef as a health threat, a report said Wednesday.
The EU also will request the United States and Canada lift
$116 million in annual punitive tariffs imposed on European
goods, the Wall Street Journal reported.
U.S. officials say they stand by the safety of U.S. beef
and believe the ban eventually will be lifted. Another round
of legal fights within the World Trade Organization now appears
likely.
EU officials who spoke about Tuesday's move said recent scientific
studies bear out the EU contention hormone-treated beef poses
a potential health risk.
"I now call on the United States and Canada to lift
their trade sanctions against the EU," Pascal Lamy, the
EU's trade commissioner, said in a statement.
The United States and Canada filed suit against the EU beef
ban in 1996 within the WTO. When the EU refused to drop the
ban, the United States and Canada slapped retaliatory tariffs
in 1999 on European luxury products, ranging from French cheese
to Italian handbags.
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